Insights and Stories of Sharon Bernstein

Dec. 31, 2015 at 4:30 pm CST

Reuters — A cold, wet start to California’s winter has dumped nearly five feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, state water experts said Wednesday, fuelling hope that 2016 will bring enough precipitation to help offset four years of drought. Snow surveyors headed to the mountains in Phillips near […]

By Sharon Bernstein

Nov. 16, 2014 at 1:14 am CST

Sacramento | Reuters –– California farmers would pay more to irrigate their crops under a proposal to build tunnels under the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to funnel water to the state’s agricultural breadbasket, officials said Friday. The analysis released by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer said regional water suppliers and the […]

By Sharon Bernstein

Jul. 2, 2014 at 5:35 am CDT

Sacramento | Reuters — California may ratchet up enforcement of drought-related pumping restrictions in slow-moving creeks and lakes under new rules being considered on Tuesday, prompting worry among farmers as the state enters the dry summer season. The widely anticipated move by the State Water Resources Control Board comes during […]

By Sharon Bernstein

May. 20, 2014 at 3:13 am CDT

Sacramento | Reuters — California’s drought will cause thousands of workers to lose their jobs and cost farmers in the state’s Central Valley breadbasket US$1.7 billion, researchers said in the first economic study of what may be the state’s driest year on record. The most populous U.S. state is in […]

By Sharon Bernstein

Mar. 1, 2014 at 12:34 am CST

Sacramento | Reuters — A large winter storm brought much-needed relief to parched California on Friday, boosting its reservoirs and dropping snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains, but the precipitation will not be enough to counter years of drought, officials said. California is in its third year of a drought […]

By Sharon Bernstein