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Warming ocean temperatures may not bring rain to parched California
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on September 5th, 2014
Reuters: The Pacific Ocean phenomenon called El Nino, which can lead to storms in the U.S. Southwest and other places, will likely start soon, but may not bring hoped-for relief to drought-parched California, U.S. government meteorologists said on Thursday.
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a report the likelihood was increasing that El Nino, characterized by a warming of the ocean temperature in the eastern Pacific near the equator, would be weak this year.
A...
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Firefighters in California gain ground against Yosemite blaze
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 29th, 2014
Reuters: Firefighters gained ground on Tuesday against a blaze burning on the western edge of Yosemite National Park and an adjacent national forest, where flames have forced the evacuation of several dozen homes and the closure of three campgrounds.
The El Portal fire has scorched more than 3,000 acres since it erupted on Saturday, destroying a duplex home and threatening dozens of other dwellings around the western park boundary, a spokesman for the federal fire command said.
By Tuesday morning, a...
California drought forces evacuation of trout hatcheries
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on June 17th, 2014
Reuters: Millions of young rainbow and steelhead trout are being evacuated from California's most productive hatchery complex as summer heat and the state's ongoing drought combine to make the water too warm for them to survive, officials said Tuesday.
Workers clad in overalls used nets to scoop up thousands of foot-long steelhead and load them onto trucks on Tuesday, part of a weeks-long effort to move the fish to cooler lakes and streams where they will have a better chance of surviving, said Andrew...
Northern California leaders ask for help in drought
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on June 10th, 2014
Reuters: With California facing its worst drought in decades, farmers, environmentalists and government officials begged lawmakers Monday to invest in projects to shore up the state's water supply.
The demands from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, The Nature Conservancy and Northern California water districts are an effort to help break a deadlock in the state legislature over how to prevent future water shortages.
The demands range from environmental restoration work for rivers and wetlands to building...
California governor pans Republican water plan in face of drought
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on February 4th, 2014
Reuters: California Governor Jerry Brown, whose state is facing its worst drought in decades, harshly criticized on Monday an effort by Congressional Republicans to roll back environmental rules limiting how much water agencies can pump out of the fragile San Joaquin-Sacramento River delta in dry years.
The emergency legislation would allow state and federal water managers to send water to farms and communities in California's parched breadbasket next summer, when the impact of the drought begins to hit...
California water woes hit hard in driest year on record
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on November 28th, 2013
Reuters: To nurture his acres of pistachio trees, Tom Coleman has long relied on water from California's mountain-ringed reservoirs, fed by Sierra streams and water pumped from the massive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
But the driest year on record has left the reservoirs so depleted - and the delta so fragile - that state water officials say they may be able to provide just 5 percent of the water he and others were expecting for next year.
Other sources of water, including resources from a federal...
Rain slows massive Southern California wildfire
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on July 22nd, 2013
Reuters: Heavy rains overnight helped slow a massive Southern California wildfire that had threatened the town of Idyllwild, a community about a mile above sea level known for its hiking trails, rock climbing and arts and music scene.
Evacuation orders for Idyllwild and nearby Fern Valley were lifted late Sunday morning, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service said tourism businesses were expected to re-open by evening.
"Today the residents and business owners were able to go back home and tonight...