On Friday, April 7, Gov. Jerry Brown rescinded the state of emergency caused by the statewide drought, which he declared in January 2014. The emergency conditions were lifted for all but four counties — Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne. In his press release, Brown said, “This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner. Conservation must remain a way of life.” The Executive Order B-40-17 maintains water reporting requirements and prohibitions on wasteful practices, such as watering during or right after rainfall. The State Water Resources Control Board will maintain urban water use reporting requirements and prohibitions on wasteful practices such as watering during or after rainfall, hosing off sidewalks and irrigating ornamental turf on public street medians, according to the release. Also, the order maintains that the state will continue its work to develop a statewide response to the bark-beetle outbreak in drought-stressed forests that has killed millions of trees across California. Brown’s action had been anticipated after one of the wettest winters on record. Already, Pine Cove has received 37 inches of rain, nearly 50 percent more than the long-term annual average. Besides the winter precipitation, Californians statewide have made significant water reduction. Last week, the SWRCB also reported that statewide water conservation was 25 percent in February, more than double the February 2016 savings. The governor’s decision will have some, but not a major, effect on local…

Drought busted: Bureau of Reclamation boosts water allocation to 100 percent for west-side farmers.
They received a 5 percent allocation last year, causing them to fallow at least 200,000 acres in the Westlands Water District.
With one of the wettest winters in years, “there shouldn’t have been a question mark … this is something we should have seen in February.” What changed the bureau’s mind?
“Following the California Department of Water Resources exceptional March 30 snow survey results, Reclamation is pleased to announce this increase to a 100 percent allocation for our South-of-Delta water contractors,” acting regional director Pablo Arroyave said in a news release.
“However, as Gov.
The Central Valley Project was designed to deliver full supplies in all types of water years with allocations to be made in mid-February so farmers can make planting decisions, Westlands said.
From 2014 to 2015 the allocation was zero.
In 2016, farmers got 5 percent but were told it could not be used during the irrigation season, the water district said.
“For farmers who had to make planting decisions several months ago, (Tuesday’s) announcement of an increase in supply comes too late in the season to aid their operations,” Westlands said in a news release.
We look forward to a timely, adequate allocation for the next growing season.” A pair of Valley congressional leaders applauded the full water allocation but also recognized the need to improve the water system.

N.H. Drought Was Good for Moose.
Preliminary numbers from a project that puts tracking collars on moose show that only one of the calves — the most vulnerable group — died from winter ticks this year.
Project leaders are still watching with caution, as winter ticks are in the adult stage in April and are feeding heavily.
It was 71 last year.
Permits also are down to 80 in Vermont, from 165 last year.
Maine authorities want to cut the number of moose permits to 2,080, 60 less than last year.
Vermont, which joined the study this year and didn’t have drought issues as serious as New Hampshire, has seen five of its 30 collared calves die, so far.
Some feel it’s time to stop moose hunting, period.
“Why would you threaten it further?” Moose population densities are taken into account in all hunting areas.
That will have a bigger impact … We could stop (hunting) tomorrow, and what’s going to happen to these animals will continue to happen.”

Photos: California drought then-and-now.
LAGUNITAS, CA – JULY 15, 2014: In this before-and-after composite image, (TOP PHOTO) Dry grasses partially cover a fire danger sign that is posted in Samuel P. Taylor state park on July 15, 2014 in Lagunitas, California.
As the severe drought in California contiues to worsen, the State’s landscape and many resident’s lawns are turning brown due to lack of rain and the discontinuation of watering.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) LAGUNITAS, CA – APRIL 10, 2017: (BOTTOM PHOTO) Grasses partially cover a fire danger sign that is posted in Samuel P. Taylor state park on April 10, 2017 in Lagunitas, California.
After record rainfall and snow in the mountains, much of California’s landscape has turned from brown to green and reservoirs across the state are near capacity.
The drought emergency had been in place since 2014.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) California Gov.
Jerry Brown has declared an end to the state’s water emergency following a five-year drought, thanks to a historically wet winter.
Getty Images photographer Justin Sullivan recently revisited areas of California he photographed at the height of the drought, capturing the dramatic changes between the parched landscapes and lush greenery we are seeing today.
View the slideshow above to see a series of then-and-now photographs.

(208 percent of average) Sacramento Valley Index (SVI) (50 percent exceedance) 13.9 (Wet) San Joaquin Valley Index (75 percent exceedance) 5.8 (Wet) Forecasting Record Water Year Runoff Volumes: Due in large part to the high runoff volumes in January and February, the projected median Water Year forecasts for the Feather, Yuba, American, Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Truckee, and East Carson are predicting records.
For other watersheds, record Water Year volumes are forecast in the 25 and 10 percent exceedance levels, and in the case of the Yuba and American Rivers the 99, 90, and 75 percent exceedance levels as well.
Eight River Index (8RI)
Runoff: After February, when the flow rate was near 400 percent of average, March data indicates a statewide flow of about 155 percent of average.
During March, all rivers in the Sierra north of the Mokelumne flowed at a rate less than 170 percent of average.
Unimpaired flows for the 2016-2017 water year: Region October-March Runoff (%) March Runoff (%) Sacramento Valley Index (4 rivers) 246 147 San Joaquin Valley Index (6 rivers) 350 193 Tulare Lake Basin (4 rivers) 282 222 Precipitation: The 83.5 inches of precipitation measured during October-March in the Northern Sierra 8-Station Index ranks as the highest total during that six-month span in the entire record of the 8-Station Index dating back to 1921.
8-Station Index 5-Station Index 6-Station Index 2006 2011 2017 2006 2011 2017 2006 2011 2017 April 12.04 3.40 4.30 10.78 1.87 3.09 7.27 1.56 1.80 May 1.48 4.88 — 1.56 3.52 — 0.87 2.53 — June 0.32 2.95 — 0.08 2.77 — 0.07 0.88 — July 0.00 0.02 — 0.61 0.04 — 0.64 0.58 — Total 13.84 11.25 — 13.03 8.20 — 8.85 5.55 — Precipitation for the 2016-2017 water year accumulated at the following rates of average: Hydrologic Region October-March precipitation (%) Sacramento River 185 San Joaquin River 187 Tulare Lake 185 Statewide 175 Precipitation Index Percent of Seasonal Average to Date through April 10, 2017 Northern Sierra 8-Station Index 204 (87.7 inches) San Joaquin 5-Station Index 195 (68.0 inches) Tulare Basin 6-Station Index 179 (45.0 inches) Snowpack: Snowpack is monitored using two complementary methods: automatic snow sensor (or “pillow”) readings and manual snow course measurements.
The snow sensors give us a daily snapshot of snow conditions while the manual snow course measurements provide a monthly verification of snow conditions in locations where snow has been measured in the same manner as far back as 100 years.
The snowpack as of the morning of April 10, 2017 stands at the following (based on snow sensors): Region Snow Water Equivalent (inches) % of Average (Apr 1) % of Average (Apr 10) Northern 42.0 149 157 Central 51.1 177 180 Southern 43.7 166 170 Statewide 46.4 166 171 Weather and Climate Outlooks: The 6-day weather forecast indicates precipitation Statewide, with the majority of precipitation falling on day 3 (Wednesday) and day 4 (Thursday).
ENSO-neutral conditions are favored to continue through at least the Northern Hemisphere spring 2017, with increasing chances for El Niño development into the fall.

Vicious circle of drought and forest loss in the Amazon.
If dry seasons intensify with human-caused climate change, the risk for self-amplified forest loss would increase even more, an international team of scientists finds.
To detect such non-linear behavior, the researchers apply a novel complex network analysis of water fluxes.
"We already know that on the one hand, reduced rainfall increases the risk of forest dieback, and on the other hand, forest loss can intensify regional droughts.
Our study provides new insight into this issue, highlighting the risk of self-amplifying forest loss which comes on top of the forest loss directly caused by the rainfall reduction."
"The Amazon water cycle is of course pure physics and biology, but it is also one of nature’s great wonders," says co-author Henrique M.J. Barbosa from the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Even if average rainfall might not drastically change, extended drought events might tip parts of the Amazon forest into self-amplifying forest loss, eventually turning them into a savanna.
Diversity has the potential to decrease the effects of self-amplified forest loss.
"Since every species has a different way of reacting to stress, having a great variety of them can be a means for ecosystem resilience," says Marina Hirota from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Self-amplified Amazon forest loss due to vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks.

Panel presentations highlight how the Sacramento Valley, Madera County, Monterey County, and Ventura County are working to establish Groundwater Sustainability Agencies The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in the fall of 2014, established a new structure for managing California’s groundwater resources at a local level.
We can’t make that necessarily happen by June 30 so we’re trying to work with them to let them know that in the interim the county will be party to this agreement that we’re working out, and this uber GSA that we’re calling it, and that down the road we hope that they can become customers of existing districts, which kind of helps so that they don’t have to go and form their own agencies.” In Glenn and Colusa counties, they have taken a much more formal approach with respect to private pumper participation, but in Yolo County, they have struggled with the issue.
The agencies that may have worked really hard to bring surface water into the area are concerned that maybe those groundwater extraction limitations will be placed on them and they don’t believe that’s just.” Some agencies are considering going it alone and they’ll have to work through a coordinated effort with the other agencies that are hoping to join together, Ms. Sicke said.
I think that you have to all try to work together to get to this common goal of groundwater sustainability over time.” Groundwater Sustainability Agency formation is really setting the stage to successfully develop and implement a Groundwater Sustainability Plan, said Ms. Sicke.
New subsidence has been discovered in the area just to the east of their boundaries.
“In the middle there next to Road 4, we saw up to five feet of subsidence over those five years.” He then presented the map of subsidence with the location of the water districts in the area.
“This happens to be in two counties we’re looking at.
There is the Chowchilla Water District; they’re in the process of forming GSA.” The county is in the process of forming a GSA to cover the areas between the exchange contractor’s districts and the other districts.
They have been working with landowners in the area and their vision is to form their own water district to manage the water supplies they need to manage as part of this program, and to have their own GSA coverage, he said.
“The Collaborative Working Group members, the county, our agency, and the city of Salinas are focused on working through these challenges with these folks.

Union County has moved from a drought warning to a drought watch.
DEP encourages a voluntary water use reduction of five percent.
“Residents may wonder why some counties on drought watch haven’t been returned to normal status,” said DEP Acting Secretary Patrick McDonnell.
“Although recent rainfall has, in the short term, put stream flows at normal or even higher than normal levels in these counties, groundwater levels have been lingering below normal.
DEP suggests several steps citizens can take to voluntarily reduce their water use: • Run water only when necessary.
Don’t let the faucet run while brushing your teeth or shaving.
• Run the dishwasher and washing machine only with full loads.
• Check for household leaks.
A leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water each day.
• Install low-flow plumbing fixtures and aerators on faucets.

Commercial salmon season slashed by lingering drought impacts.
California’s commercial salmon industry is being slashed this year because of lingering environmental impacts from the drought.
In a decision expected to make chinook salmon scarcer at markets and restaurants, federal fishery managers called Tuesday for sharp restrictions on commercial catches in response to low numbers of the adult fish swimming off the Pacific Coast.
“It’s a financial disaster.
This is really going to hurt people who rely on fishing for a living, both culturally and in the pocket book.” The Pacific Fishery Management Council called for sharp restrictions that limit the commercial season to August and September off the coast from Pigeon Point near San Francisco to Point Arena in Mendocino County.
This represents about half the season in normal years.
The entire commercial salmon season will be canceled this year in an area from Florence in southern Oregon to Horse Mountain south of Eureka to protect struggling Klamath River salmon, the Pacific Fishery Management Council decided.
While officially a recommendation, the advice is expected to be adopted by May 1 by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Federal fishery biologists say the restrictions are warranted because of diminished numbers of adult fish swimming off the Pacific Coast before they return through the Delta to spawn in Central Valley rivers, or return up the Klamath River to reach spawning grounds there.
Members of the federal fishery council say sharp fishing limits are necessary to protect Central Valley chinook salmon, including the endangered Sacramento River winter run salmon.

The drought is over, but now L.A. is being swarmed by bugs.
Normally, the office gets about 25 phone calls a day; lately, it’s been around 80.
“They’re getting frustrated and maybe a little freaked out seeing so many insects around their home.” The majority of calls have been about two insects in particular: crane flies and fungus gnats.
Crane flies are sometimes called mosquito hawks or mosquito eaters.
The little black bugs that look like fruit flies are most likely fungus gnats, Sun said.
Though fruit flies and gnats aren’t closely related scientifically — flies are of the family Drosophilidae, gnats are Sciaridae — both are small, winged, black and irritating to find flying around your house.
Crane flies also flourish in damp conditions.
Sun said the best way to prevent fungus gnats is to make sure your yard is cleared of debris or leaves, so that the ground can dry quickly after it rains.
Both crane flies and fungus gnats are seasonal “nuisance insects,” according to Sun: They don’t spread diseases, and as we move closer to summer, you should be seeing a lot less of them.
4:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about phone calls that the Greater L.A. County Vector Control District has received.