drought

WASHINGTON — Devastating hurricanes, deadly flooding and prolonged record-setting drought in much of the U.S. were just a few of the 18 natural disasters that cost taxpayers roughly $165 billion last year, according to a new federal report. The sobering... Read More

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The federal government on Tuesday is expected to announce water cuts to states that rely on the Colorado River as drought and climate change leave less water flowing through the river and deplete the reservoirs... Read More

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Vermont farmer Brian Kemp is used to seeing the pastures at Mountain Meadows Farm grow slower in the hot, late summer, but this year the grass is at a standstill. That's “very nerve-wracking” when you're grazing... Read More

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — The industrial hub of Monterrey has long been one of Mexico’s most prosperous cities, so its almost 5 million residents were shocked when they lost the most basic of services: water. A combination of an intense... Read More

WASHINGTON — Calls to protect forests and farmland as fresh water supplies dwindle were repeated Tuesday in Congress and internationally amid increasingly dire predictions about climate change. “The West has not been this dry in 1,200 years,” said Sen. Michael... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California's gigantic water supplier took the unprecedented step Tuesday of requiring about 6 million people to cut their outdoor watering to one day a week as drought continues to plague the state. The board of... Read More

SITES, Calif. (AP) — In 2014, in the middle of a severe drought that would test California's complex water storage system like never before, voters told the state to borrow $7.5 billion and use part of it to build projects... Read More

TOOELE, Utah (AP) — The sound of the helicopter propeller thundered across the horizon as it dipped down toward mustangs dotting the golden brown plain. The horses burst into a gallop at the machine's approach, their high-pitched whinnies rising into... Read More

Federal regulators on Monday declared the first-ever water shortage at Lake Mead, a reservoir that feeds into the Colorado River and serves approximately 40 million people in the West. The declaration, issued as part of an outlook for the river... Read More

FIREBAUGH, Calif. (AP) — As temperatures recently reached triple digits, farmer Joe Del Bosque inspected the almonds in his parched orchard in California's agriculture-rich San Joaquin Valley, where a deepening drought threatens one of the state's most profitable crops. Del... Read More

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (AP) — A harvester rumbles through the fields in the early morning light, mowing down rows of corn and chopping up ears, husks and stalks into mulch for feed at a local dairy. The cows won't get... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday asked people and businesses in the nation's most populous state to voluntarily cut how much water they use by 15% as the Western United States weathers a drought that is... Read More

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The silvery blue waters of the Great Salt Lake sprawl across the Utah desert, having covered an area nearly the size of Delaware for much of history. For years, though, the largest natural lake west... Read More

After a record-breaking heatwave scorched swathes of the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, excessive heat watches continued to be in effect for regions stretching from Northern California to British Columbia, Canada. The heatwave, which climate scientists say is a one... Read More

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Many Americans aching for normalcy as pandemic restrictions end are looking forward to traditional Fourth of July fireworks. But with a historic drought in the U.S. West and fears of another devastating wildfire season, officials... Read More

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Each year Lake Oroville helps water a quarter of the nation's crops, sustain endangered salmon beneath its massive earthen dam and anchor the tourism economy of a Northern California county that must rebuild seemingly every year... Read More