Water

Sacramento Valley growers protected for decades by their water rights are suffering for the first time during this record-breaking drought. Wildlife refuges are struggling, too.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley visited the site of a new water pipeline project in the works in Jackson County on Friday. The development of the 13.6-mile-long pipeline marks a significant investment in water-moving infrastructure in Southern Oregon that could benefit both farms and fish.

With the exception of the North Coast, Californians have been ignoring urgent pleas from water officials, using substantially more water after a record-dry three months gripped the state.

An environmental group and native tribe have won a five-year legal battle against the Crystal Geyser Water Company over its efforts to build a water bottling plant in the city of Mt. Shasta, Calif.

A group of farmers and ranchers in Southern Oregon have voted in favor of trying to access water in the parched Klamath Basin, even if it puts their access to federal drought funding in jeopardy.

Still resisting statewide water rationing for parched California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking local suppliers to tighten water limits.

Oregon has protected land at Summer Lake Wildlife Area in Lake County since 1944. Water is another story.

Local activists are celebrating the sale of an old bottling facility in Siskiyou County, signaling the end of a decade-long fight over water rights in Northern California. Now the activists are lobbying for stricter environmental standards.

In Malheur County’s Cow Valley, state regulators have ignored known issues with overpumping groundwater, leaving the region at risk of economic and ecological damage that will be difficult to reverse.

New data from urban areas suggests that people are ignoring the governor’s pleas for voluntary conservation during the drought. Some experts say it’s time for Gov. Newsom to issue a mandatory order.

The Sierra Nevada hasn’t provided nearly as much water as predicted. Now the state is struggling to overhaul its snow runoff forecasts.

The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest was awarded $100,000 this week to reduce damaging wildfire risk in the watershed that provides drinking water to Medford and surrounding communities.