California

"Santa Barbara City Council members on Tuesday unanimously approved spending $55 million to reactivate a mothballed desalination plant that could provide the city with nearly a third of its drinking water."

"It was touted as the bill “where everybody wins” — a common-sense approach to providing badly needed drought relief to California growers, and a measure that would place the needs of people above those of fish."

"More than half of the wastewater from fracked oil wells in California is disposed of in open, unlined pits and could contaminate groundwater, according to a state-mandated study of hydraulic fracturing issued Thursday."

"SACRAMENTO — A judge ruled Friday that California regulators violated some farmers’ rights by telling them to stop diverting from rivers and streams, but the state said it can still punish those who illegally take water during the drought."

"A 2,400-ton chunk of granite broke loose last week from the towering Half Dome formation in Yosemite National Park, altering one of North America's most popular rock-climbing routes, but no one was hurt and casual visitors will probably never notice."

"For many Californians, the state’s long drought has meant small inconveniences such as shorter showers and restrictions on watering lawns. But in two rural valleys, the Coachella southeast of Los Angeles and the San Joaquin to the north, farmworkers and other poor residents are feeling its impact in a far more serious and personal way."

"Drew Lessard stood on top of Folsom Dam and gazed at the Sierra Nevada, which in late spring usually gushes enough melting snow into the reservoir to provide water for a million people. But the mountains were bare, and the snowpack to date remains the lowest on measured record."

"Just over a month after California experienced its worst oil spill in decades, the state is considering allowing a company to triple its oil production off the coast of Santa Barbara and run the oil through the same pipeline that leaked on 19 May."