<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_46907"><a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/12/28/the-seven-key-things-that-happened-in-california-water-in-2016" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47232" class="" style="font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -2px;"><font id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47444" size="5"><a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/12/28/the-seven-key-things-that-happened-in-california-water-in-2016" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47539">https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/12/28/the-seven-key-things-that-happened-in-california-water-in-2016</a></font></a><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_46907"><a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/12/28/the-seven-key-things-that-happened-in-california-water-in-2016" class="" style="font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: -2px;"><br></a></div><header style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; font-size: 19px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47080"><h1 itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 0.92; letter-spacing: -2px; font-size: 72px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0; max-width: 100%;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47081">The Seven Key Things That Happened in California Water in 2016</h1></header><div style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0.9em 0px; line-height: 1.7; box-shadow: rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.247059) -1px 0px 0px inset; width: 738.46875px; padding-right: calc(3.333% + 1px); float: left; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; font-size: 19px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47082"><div itemprop="description" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); letter-spacing: -0.5px; margin: 0 auto 1em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47083">The drought continues to impact California economically, politically and ecologically. Here’s a look at the most significant recent developments that will shape the year ahead.</div><table style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; font-family: 'Whitney A', 'Whitney B', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; border-collapse: collapse; width: 702px; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); margin-top: -8px; box-shadow: rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.298039) 0px 7px 10px -10px, rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.0980392) 0px 60px 70px -70px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47084"><tbody style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47085"><tr style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47086"><td style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 8px 10px 6px; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 229);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47087"><small style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; opacity: 0.33;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47088">WRITTEN BY</small><span style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47089"><a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/contributor/tara-lohan" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47090">Tara Lohan</a></span></td><td style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 8px 10px 6px; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 229);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47091"><small style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; opacity: 0.33;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47092">PUBLISHED ON</small><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: FontAwesome; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; position: relative;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47093"> </span><time itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2016-12-28T05:07:21" style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47094">Dec. 28, 2016</time></td><td style="box-sizing: inherit; padding: 8px 10px 6px; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 229);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47095"><small style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; display: block; opacity: 0.33;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47096">READ TIME</small>Approx. 5 minutes</td></tr></tbody></table><div itemprop="publisher" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization" style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47097"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47098"></div></div><figure itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.25em 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47099"><img srcset="https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20161227082604/Lake-Mead-Water-Level3.jpg?w=640&fit=max&q=60&dpr=2 2x" data-action="zoom" data-original="https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20161227082604/Lake-Mead-Water-Level3.jpg?w=1800&fit=max&q=60" src="https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20161227082604/Lake-Mead-Water-Level3.jpg?w=640&fit=max&q=60" alt="Lake mead water level3" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; min-height: auto; min-width: 100%;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47100" data-id="d523fdcf-aa11-f458-acb6-7f78b922010a" class=""><figcaption itemprop="caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: 'Whitney A', 'Whitney B', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; opacity: 0.8; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 5px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgba(162, 173, 175, 0.247059); padding-bottom: 12px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47101">A buoy lies high and dry above the water line at the now defunct Echo Bay Marina in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, near Las Vegas, May 2016. Lake Mead’s surface was at its lowest level since the reservoir was created.<cite style="box-sizing: inherit; opacity: 0.5; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia; margin-left: 4px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47102">John Locher, AP</cite></figcaption></figure><div itemprop="articleBody" style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47103"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47104"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext; text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 0.725em; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.75px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47105">THIS YEAR HAS </span>been a big one for water. California is still mired in drought, although less of the state is suffering than in previous years and each winter rainstorm brings a fresh bit of optimism.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47106">A large reserve of <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/06/27/new-groundwater-found-deep-under-central-valley" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47107">groundwater was found</a> deep under the drought-stricken Central Valley, <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/10/06/how-california-is-learning-to-love-drinking-recycled-water" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47108">recycled water</a> continues to gain in popularity, <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/05/19/how-saving-salmon-could-help-ease-the-next-drought" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47109">flooding to help fish and farmers</a> is panning out and 2016 will likely wrap up as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/science/2016-hottest-year-on-record.html?_r=0" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47110">hottest year on record</a>.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47111">Below are seven other significant milestones that impacted California water and will help shape the year ahead.</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47112">1. Disappointing El Nino</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47113">The much-heralded El Nino that many hoped would lift California out of drought didn’t live up to expectations. And what precipitation did come was concentrated much more heavily in the northern parts of the state, leaving Southern California high and dry.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47114">By mid-April, while snowpack was at 100 percent of average in parts of the northern Sierra Nevada, precipitation in <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-no-rain-20160415-story.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47115">Los Angeles was at only 58 percent</a>. And the snowpack reading for the southern Sierra Nevada on April 1 was <a href="http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/COURSES.04" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47116">65 percent of </a>average.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47117">To make matters worse, despite normal wet weather in the north, warmer temperatures meant that by May 1 the snowpack statewide dropped to only 55 percent of average – a marked improvement over the historically low snowpack of 2015, but nothing close to what the state needed to make a big impact on the drought.</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47118">2. Conservation Mandate Ends</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47119">After nearly a year of Californians rising to the challenge of a 25 percent statewide conservation mandate, the policy was disbanded in May. The State Water Resources Control Board changed course and instead decided to let water agencies set their own conservation standards.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47120">“The new rules center on a ‘self-certification’ process in which individual water districts will forecast their demand and supply for the next three years, assuming continued below-average precipitation,” the <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/05/20/california-lifts-statewide-conservation-rules" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47121">Sacramento Bee reported</a>. “Districts would be required to reduce water use by an amount equal to their projected shortfall.”</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47122">Following the decision, most water agencies <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/10/14/what-falling-water-conservation-numbers-mean-for-california" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47123">set conservation goals</a> at or near zero, and conservation statewide fell.</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47124">3. Diminishing Lake Mead</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47125">In June, <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/06/20/what-lake-meads-record-low-means-for-california" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47126">Lake Mead hit its lowest point</a> ever since the reservoir on the Colorado River was built 80 years ago. Around 19 million Californians, nearly half the state, get some portion of their drinking water from the Colorado River.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47127">The Bureau of Reclamation believes <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2a37e6597b6e4d1eaf591731a539de78/feds-see-shortage-2018-lake-mead-water-arizona-nevada" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47128">the lake’s shortage</a> will be so low by 2018 it will not be able to make its deliveries to lower-basin states Nevada, Arizona and California. The three states have been working for months on a compromise, should the shortage warrant it.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47129">However, in December the <a href="http://www.reviewjournal.com/local/nevada/problems-california-complicate-negotiations-boost-sinking-lake-mead" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47130">Las Vegas Journal-Review</a> reported a new hitch – trouble in California is holding things up. “Before they agree to store more water in Lake Mead, California’s largest river users want to know how much water they might have to forgo to protect endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or keep the Salton Sea from drying up, triggering an ecological disaster,” the Journal-Review reported.</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47131">4. Toxic Algae Outbreaks</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; width: auto !important; margin: 2em 0px !important;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47132"><img src="https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20161227083009/Klamath-Dams2.jpg" alt="An algae bloom in the reservoir behind Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River near Hornbrook, California. (Jeff Barnard, AP)" width="2000" height="1339" data-action="zoom" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; min-height: auto;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47133" data-id="86882438-b452-589b-838b-bff27842f2b6"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: 'Whitney A', 'Whitney B', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; opacity: 0.75; line-height: 1.618; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47134">An algae bloom in the reservoir behind Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River near Hornbrook, California. (Jeff Barnard, <span style="box-sizing: inherit;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47135">AP</span>)</div></div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47136">The summer was marked by several outbreaks of toxic algae blooms in waters across the state, fueled by low water flows, warm temperatures and high levels of nutrients. Although toxic algae blooms happened in both Northern and Southern California, of particular concern was the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47137">“In the Delta, it’s important to us because we have a large population base that uses this water, and protecting the water quality is of huge ecological importance,” <a href="http://www.water.ca.gov/ssr/staff/lehman.cfm" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47138">Peggy Lehman</a>, a staff environmental scientist at the California Department of Water Resources, <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/08/08/algae-outbreaks-fed-by-drought-climate-change-pollution" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47139">told Water Deeply</a>. “With the State Water Project drawing from the Delta, we have to take a look at the importance of anything like this because it could be quite detrimental to human health and water quality.”</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47140">5. Tree Mortality on the Rise</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47141">One of the most visible signs of California’s drought has been patches of red amid the typically green hillsides of California’s conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada. Recent aerial surveys indicate that the number of dead trees, thanks to drought and beetles, has risen to 102 million, with more than half dying in the last year.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47142">“The scale of die-off in California is unprecedented in our modern history,” Randy Moore, forester for the region of the <span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'PT Serif Caption', Georgia;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47143">U.S.</span> Forest Service that includes California, told the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-dead-trees-20161118-story.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47144">Los Angeles Times</a>.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47145">While statewide surveys have been conducted in the Sierra Nevada, smaller-scale research in coastal areas has also found that usually resilient oak trees are also dying from drought as tree roots can no longer reach falling aquifers.</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47146">6. Federal Water Infrastructure Bill Signed</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47147">In December, <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2016/12/20/what-the-new-federal-water-bill-means-for-the-delta" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47148">President Obama signed</a> the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, a $12 billion measure that provides aid for Flint, Michigan, and projects to fund dams and provide flood protection across the country. Stuffed into the legislation were controversial provisions that will affect how much water is pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47149">Michael Doyle, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article119710733.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47150">reporting for McClatchy</a>, called it “the biggest federal reset of California water use in a generation, setting the stage for easier dam-building, more recycling and potentially happier Central Valley farmers.”</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47151">The new law has received cheers from San Joaquin Valley farmers and jeers from the environmental community and Delta-area residents worried about overpumping from the environmentally sensitive Bay Delta. The law calls for pumps “to maximize water supplies for the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project,” and may run into conflict with provisions in the Endangered Species Act that limit pumping at certain times to protect endangered fish species.</div><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: DINNext, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 1.25; letter-spacing: -0.33px; margin-top: 1.75em; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; margin-left: 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47152">7. Delta Tunnels Inch Forward</h2><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47153">With just over a week to go before the end of 2016, California took another step forward on California WaterFix, the plan to build twin tunnels in the Delta, by releasing more than 90,000 pages of a finalized <a href="http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/FinalEIREIS.aspx" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47154">environmental impact report</a>.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47155">Erin Mellon, a spokeswoman for the state’s Natural Resources Agency, told the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/delta/article122434249.html#storylink=cpy" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47156">Sacramento Bee</a> that the state hopes “to have federal permits approved next year and construction under way as early as 2018.” The report comes after “hundreds of public meetings and thousands of comments,” according to the Natural Resources Agency.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47157">“After years of scientific study and analysis, we have found the best solution for protecting both the Delta’s ecosystem and a vital water supply for California,” said Mark Cowin, director of the California Department of Water Resources.</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 1em 65.765625px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47158">But Restore the Delta, one of the most outspoken critics of the plan, released a statement saying that the document “is <a href="http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=e35cf8c02d&e=3659e00ed8" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s, box-shadow 0.2s, border-color 0.2s; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); box-shadow: rgba(34, 34, 34, 0.2) 0px 1px 0px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47159">not a green light</a> for the Delta Tunnels but rather should be understood as the submission of homework by sponsoring agencies … to be evaluated by state and federal regulators who will determine if proposal can meet environmental and water quality standards … A feat no previous version of the proposal has achieved.”</div><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 1em auto 0.5em 65.765625px;" dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47160">The project still faces other hurdles, including hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board on water rights impacts and a crucial agreement by water districts on how to finance the project.</div></div></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_46913"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482871908201_47469"><br></div></div></div></body></html>