A drone’s-eye view of crews repairing a levee, north of the Cosumnes River, after it was breached by heavy rains and flooded Sacramento County roads and properties near Wilton, just southeast of Sacramento, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Another ‘atmospheric river’ storm renews flood threat in California

Sacramento | Reuters — Emergency crews braced for the next bout of high winds and torrential rains forecast to sweep California starting on Wednesday, renewing the threat of power outages and flooding that struck parts of the state over the New Year’s weekend. The latest “atmospheric river” — an airborne current of dense moisture flowing […] Read more

The SWOT spacecraft is moved into a transport container inside the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 18, 2022. (Photo: USSF 30th Space Wing/Chris Okula)

NASA to conduct first global water survey from space

Data would bolster weather and climate forecasts

Los Angeles | Reuters — A NASA-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography, the advanced radar satellite […] Read more






U.S. West Coast ports undergo partial shutdown

Los Angeles | Reuters –– The 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast were effectively closed to cargo freighters for the second time in less than a week on Thursday under a partial shutdown imposed by shipping lines and terminal operators in an escalating labour dispute with the dockworkers’ union. The loading and unloading of […] Read more



California water allocation forecast hits record-low level

Los Angeles | Reuters — A worsening drought in California will likely force a first-ever complete cutoff this year in state-supplied water sold to 29 irrigation districts, public water agencies and municipalities up and down the state, officials said Friday. Although the state Water Resources Department typically ends up supplying more water than first projected […] Read more