California’s drought is over.
In parts of San Joaquin Valley, where the Surmays live, the ground is sinking as fast as two feet a year, because of over-pumping of groundwater, according to a new study by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
As the drought continued, people dug deeper and deeper to extract water from the ground, and that’s taken a toll.
And as the ground sinks behind the water being pumped out, the aquifers don’t hold as much water afterwards.
And that means despite flooding in some parts of the state, the drought’s effects still reverberate.
David Lewis, another resident of the San Joaquin Valley who’s well has gone dry, is moving instead of digging a deeper well.
But the infrastructure that now brings water to their house itself is at threat due to the subsidence.
Groundwater pumping now puts at risk the very system that brings water to the San Joaquin Valley.
"In the past five years were weren’t seeing these mid-winter storms," says Alan Haynes, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.
"No matter how much it snows during the rainy season, rising temperatures will continue to remove water from the state," says Ullrich.

“A lot of bad luck”: Drought and severe weather fuels record Oklahoma wildfires.
Wildfires fueled by gusting winds, hot, dry weather, and desiccated plant life have burned nearly 900,000 acres of Oklahoma so far this year, a record, as well as parts of Kansas and Texas.
But this season has been particularly active because of drought conditions that have creeped up during the winter, driven by record warm temperatures and a lack of precipitation.
Climate change is expected to impact many of the factors, such as precipitation, that can contribute to wildfires.
“A lot of bad luck” While this time of year is typically the main wildfire season for Oklahoma and surrounding areas, this season has seen a record-breaking amount of land scorched by 133 large wildfires ignited in the Panhandle and eastern Oklahoma, with conditions exacerbated by a perfect storm of ideal fire weather and a deepening drought.
That drought has developed due to a combination of exceptionally warm fall and winter temperatures and a lack of precipitation.
October through February was the warmest on record for Oklahoma; on Feb. 11, temperatures in Magnum, in the southwest of the state, hit 99°F (37°C), tying the highest winter temperature ever recorded in the state.
“That’s when we saw the large leap in drought conditions, when normally we wouldn’t see that,” state climatologist Gary McManus said.
Hot, dry, windy conditions are perfect for wildfires to develop, and that’s exactly what Oklahoma has periodically seen in recent weeks, first in the Panhandle and more recently across the eastern half of the state.
Future fire risk Like many other natural disasters that strike, this record fire activity raises the question of how climate change may impact wildfire risk in the future.

What Drought?.
About 50 percent of the state is still under a "severe drought" but it sure seems like our fortunes are changing.
Windsor Locks managed an "above normal" March with 3.93" of precipitation while I managed 4.95" in West Hartford!
This week, like the last several, also looks awfully storm.
The European model shows good odds (>50 percent) of more than 2" of rain for southern and western Connecticut over the next 7 days.
With snow melt up north along with locally heavy rain we may see a period of minor flooding on the Connecticut River.
You can see impressive rises possible based on rainfall and snow melt from the GFS ensembles.
While it will take time to completely eliminate the drought we’re moving in the right direction.
If we can string together 2 more months of above normal precipitation we may finally be able to put this drought in the rear view mirror.

Defensive-minded Bulldogs motivated to end state tourney drought.
“Motivation has never been a question,” senior Dillon Tabares said.
“That’s what gives us our confidence coming into the season, having such a strong back line and such a good senior class to play with,” Dunn said.
Bettendorf surrendered just three goals in nine conference matches last spring.
“I have no doubt we’ve got one of the best defenses in the whole state of Iowa,” Tabares said.
Bettendorf lost its top two offensive weapons from last year in Seaberg (19 goals) and Juan Pablo Jimenez (10 goals).
Rollinger registered eight goals a season ago and Harris scored for Bettendorf in its scrimmage last week against North Scott.
Even so, Dunn admits Bettendorf’s offensive makeup will be different than recent seasons.
“If we can score goals, sky is the limit.
“It means everything to get back to that point,” he said.

After historic drought, Sudbury targets private wells.
Daily News Staff @DameReports Sudbury residents who draw water from private wells for their lawns could soon be subject to outdoor water use restrictions during an extreme drought like the one suffered last summer.
Since 2000, a town bylaw required residents to drill private wells if they install in-ground irrigation systems.
There are now 360 town-permitted, private irrigation wells.
Residents who use these wells are not subject to outdoor water use restrictions imposed by the Sudbury Water District, the town’s municipal water supplier.
A proposal set to appear before Town Meeting next month would allow selectmen to restrict outdoor water use by residents with private wells when the state declares a drought “warning” – a designation issued for the first time ever in 2016.
We just don’t want to run out of water.” Some Sudbury residents raised concerns to town officials about the discrepancy between those with private irrigation wells and those who rely on the water district for all their water, Eggleston said.
Even if the measure passes, residents with private irrigation wells would still enjoy more freedoms than residents connected to the water district only.
While the water district routinely implements time and day restrictions on outdoor water use, even in the absence of drought conditions, selectmen would only be allowed to restrict private irrigation wells in extreme conditions, when a drought “warning” is issued by the state.
Some reservoir systems are back up closer to normal,” said Jonathan Yeo, DCR’s director of water supply protection.

No significant relief from the Florida drought is in sight as rainfall will largely bypass the Sunshine State into the middle of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor released on March 28, over 90 percent of the state is enduring abnormally dry to severe drought conditions.
The worst of the drought is centered from just south of Jacksonville to Gainesville, Melbourne and Fort Myers.
Occasional soaking showers off the Atlantic has largely spared the southeastern corner of the state, including Miami, from the drought.
Storms this week will lift from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes with the bulk of the heavy rain and thunderstorms following along this path.
Florida will get scraped by the tail end of wet weather first on Monday and Monday night and then again on Wednesday into Thursday.
The soaking thunderstorms will tend to fizzle and become more localized as they cross central and southern portions of the state.
Prolonged dryness well through the spring could have an impact on local agriculture, including citrus and vegetable crops.
“Citrus trees are blooming now with apparently little or no adverse impact due to the dryness,” AccuWeather Senior Agricultural Meteorologist Dale Mohler said.
“As long as these summer rains arrive on time and fall consistently, the citrus crop should be okay and conditions of the vegetable crops should improve,” he added.

DAILY DIGEST, weekend edition: Why Oroville Dam woes could cut into California water supplies; Melting snowpack and sinking land threaten valley communities with flooding; Joint letter pledges to develop the Temperance Flat Reservoir project; and more ….
… ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Why Oroville Dam woes could cut into California water supplies Oroville Dam documents kept secret by the state, federal officials: “Citing potential security risks, state and federal officials are blocking the public’s ability to review documents that could shed light on repair plans and safety issues at crippled Oroville Dam.
The spillway boat launch parking lot was also completely flooded.
… ” Read more from the Fresno Bee here: Melting snowpack and sinking land threaten valley communities with flooding The big melt: Here it comes, most reservoirs will be fine: “Reservoirs are no longer so frighteningly full, rivers are no longer flowing so fiercely, and it appears the threat of serious flooding has diminished in low-lying San Joaquin County.
… ” Read more from the Stockton Record here: The big melt: Here it comes, most reservoirs will be fine Joint letter pledges to develop the Temperance Flat Reservoir project: “A joint letter pledging collaboration to develop the Temperance Flat Reservoir project was signed by four agencies representing water users in the San Joaquin Valley at Fresno City Hall on Friday.
… ” Read more from the Fresno Bee here: Joint letter pledges to develop the Temperance Flat Reservoir project In commentary this weekend … California greets a bleak salmon season: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat writes, “This week’s news included warnings about potential flooding as temperatures rise and the Sierra’s mammoth snowpack begins to melt.
For several years, the district has been working to clean up and alter Almaden Lake.
If the board decides the county should cover that cost — estimated at $6.1 million — that would reverse the position it took back in November, when it agreed to act as lead agency for areas required to do groundwater planning, but only if property owners agreed to cover the costs.
… ” Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune here: San Luis Obispo County Supervisors should stay the course How much rain has Southern California received?
Maven’s Notebook where California water news never goes home for the weekend

Arizona, in general, has fared better with only 15 percent of the state still experiencing drought conditions after the wettest winter in seven years.
Although there has been rain, the threat of a water emergency still looms in the region’s future, said Briana Morgan, Lake Havasu City water conservation specialist.
We’ve been experiencing this for more than 16 years, and concern is growing,” Morgan said.
If this continues for the next decade or so, and if our demand stays where it’s at now or increases, we definitely will reach a critical point.” Lake Havasu’s water supply is almost exclusively tied to the Colorado River and Lake Mead with an annual water entitlement set at 28,581 acre feet.
“Last year demand came in at 10,899 acre feet of water.
“The Bureau of Reclamation is projecting by January 2018 we will be at 1,102 feet, which is 25 feet above the shortage declaration, but, there are a lot of variables and we always have to keep our eyes open,” she said.
“Cuts are looming because Arizona’s bank for 40 percent of its water supply coming (from) Lake Mead are being drained faster than it can be filled,” the report stated.
“Most other cities usually target outdoor irrigation first and that makes sense,” Morgan said.
“We need water flowing into our homes much more than going to our lawns.” “If we factor out commercial irrigation, residential use is still between 60-70 percent,” Morgan said.
This is the biggest area of improvement for our city and for our state.”

Weekend storm ‘big hit’ on drought.
The amount of snow was a lot less than predicted, but the high amount of moisture from snow, rain and sleet will go a long way to help drag the region out of a months-long drought, a meteorologist said on Saturday.
“This will give it a big hit.” Throughout the week, meteorologists predicted up to eight inches of heavy snow for MetroWest.
Instead, according to the National Weather Service, the high snow amount was 2.5 inches in Sudbury.
“Most of the places are reporting between one and two inches, even three inches, of moisture,” he said.
That number does not include the moisture on Saturday, he said.
With Saturday’s weather, along with rain predicted Monday night into Tuesday and possibly Thursday, the drought could be almost gone, and there could actually be some minor flooding, Dellicarpini said.
“We’ll be getting back up to around average,” he said.
“We need to see the effects on stream flow and groundwater.
We need to keep this up for a little bit.

Scat sniffer dogs tell researchers a lot about endangered lizards.
Dogs can be trained to find almost anything (people, drugs, weapons, poached ivory) but one York University researcher had them detect something a little unusual — the scat of endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizards.
The scat detection dogs helped biology PhD student Alex Filazzola discover not only scat, but the importance of shrubs in preserving lizard populations in the face of climate change.
The research team geotagged 700 Ephedra californica shrubs in a 32.3-hectare area of the Panoche Hills Management Area in San Joaquin Valley, California.
The lizards use rodent burrows, most often found under shrubs, to escape predators.
The study also pointed out that management techniques used over the past 50 years have done little to change the endangered status of the lizards.
"Planting shrubs, such as the Ephedra californica, could prove critical in managing and preserving endangered species in high-stress or arid ecosystems, such as a desert," said Filazzola.
"Continuing to remove these shrubs to install solar panels, however, further endangers this species."
In addition, the study found that invasive grasses in the desert were not beneficial.
Managing invasive plant species is therefore crucial in these ecosystems.