Our Impact

ALBUQUERQUE — The megadrought in the American Southwest has become so severe that it’s now the driest two decades in the region in at least 1,200 years, scientists said Monday, and climate change is largely responsible. The drought, which began in 2000 and has reduced water supplies, devastated farmers and ranchers and helped fuel wildfires […]

For anyone tracking the state of California’s drought, the past four months have delivered an emotional whiplash. October brought flooding and atmospheric rivers. November was unusually parched. December broke rainfall records, while January clocked in as the driest ever for large swaths of the state. The wild swings in precipitation mean that much of the water gains […]

In the final three months of 2021, hope arrived in California in the form of rain. Record-breaking downpours nourished the parched land. The state’s snowpack, a major source of water, reached a staggering 160 percent of its expected level. If the rains continued through the rest of the winter, experts advised, California’s severe drought could soon […]

For Californians still clinging to the myth that we’re not in the midst of a severe drought, a brutal reality awaits. With a dry winter projected for much of the state, California officials are considering fines of up to $500 a day for overwatering yards, hosing down driveways and other water-wasting actions. The state’s water board could impose […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The rugged Lost Coast is about to become less forbidding. A conservation group on Thursday said it planned to purchase a scenic 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of the Northern California coastline from a lumber company to protect it from logging and eventually open it up to the public. Save the Redwoods League […]

The following answers to questions posed by the California Chamber of Commerce are from Paula Estévez, general manager of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Chile.    AmCham Chile Please tell us a bit about the American Chamber of Commerce in Chile, services you provide and activities. The Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Chile) […]

Two sites near Paso Robles farm conscientiously, and both make excellent wines. But in the climate change era, one gets enough rain, the other doesn’t. TEMPLETON, Calif. — This is a story of two wine producers in the Paso Robles region. They are different in size, background and intent, yet they have important elements in […]

A state agency voted to require many new commercial structures, along with high-rise residential projects, to have solar power and battery storage. LOS ANGELES — California regulators voted Wednesday to require builders to include solar power and battery storage in many new commercial structures as well as high-rise residential projects. It is the latest initiative […]

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 after unrelenting wildfires. But the mighty lake — a linchpin in a system of aqueducts […]