Drought

In preparation for El Nino, a record number of Californians have purchased flood insurance policies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said. Since August, the agency has seen a 25 percent increase in policies or about 55,500 new policies. FEMA attributes the rise in flood insurance policies to El Nino. …

The California Department of Food and Agriculture released their annual report regarding agricultural statistics for the year. The numbers reflect changes in the agricultural industry in 2015 due to the severe drought. Overall, the value of California’s field crop production dropped to $3.7 billion, a 14.9% decrease from 2013. Crops …

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly update shows California is making slight progress. Although El Nino has brought an onslaught of rain throughout the state, experts say it will take time for the impact to become apparent. Current reservoir conditions are as follows: Shasta Reservoir: 55% compared to its historical average …

Residents in Redlands have done such a great job conserving water that homeowners are now going to see upwards of a 40 percent rate increase over the next three years. On top of that, Redlands City Council members voted 4 to 1 to also tack on an additional 2.5 percent …

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), a nonpartisan agency, the California drought will have a long-lasting impact on rural communities and native fish, even after the drought has subsided. Because many wells in the Central Valley have run dry recently, people in those communities will rely on state programs …

Late Tuesday evening, the State Water Resources Control Board decided to extend Governor Jerry Brown’s emergency water conservation regulations. The extension, however, has some revisions, which should ease some burden on water suppliers. The revised regulations would consider certain factors such as: Water use in varying parts of the state …