Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil will likely experience a moderate El Nino by the end of the year, bringing steady rain to the country’s main grain-producing regions and sustained drought in the arid north, the national meteorological institute, Inmet, said. Inmet meteorologist Fabricio Daniel dos Santos Silva said six consecutive quarters of warming sea […] Read more
El Nino seen bringing drought to Brazil’s north, heavy rains to south
California water board approves voluntary cutback program by growers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Los Angeles | Reuters — California water regulators on Friday said they had approved a plan by some of the state’s most senior water rights holders to voluntary cut back water use by 25 per cent in exchange for assurances that they would not face further cuts during the growing season. So-called riparian growers in […] Read more
Drought prompts cuts to farm irrigation in California, Oregon
Reading Time: 2 minutes Portland | Reuters –– The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will cut the amount of federal irrigation water available to farmers along the Oregon-California border to half the annual norm as it grapples with a fourth year of regional drought, the agency said on Friday. Though the roughly 1,200 affected farms in the Klamath Basin had […] Read more
U.S. sees El Nino as near-certain to last through summer
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — The El Nino climate phenomenon is almost certain to last through the Northern Hemisphere summer, the U.S. weather forecaster said, raising the chance of heavy rain in the southern U.S. as well as South America, and scorching heat in Asia that could devastate crops of thirsty food staples like rice. […] Read more
Drier bias seen on horizon for Manitoba
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Warm and dry weather is allowing for a good start to spring seeding in Manitoba, but that dryness could pose problems down the road as its longer-term outlook is also on the dry side, according to meteorologist Drew Lerner. Temperatures on Thursday in Manitoba were hitting levels more normally seen in the […] Read more
California orders 25 per cent reduction in water usage
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — California Governor Jerry Brown, acting in the face of a devastating multiyear drought, ordered the first statewide mandatory water restrictions on Wednesday, directing cities and communities to reduce usage by 25 per cent. The cutbacks, to be implemented by state and local water agencies, will affect consumers and businesses throughout the most populous […] Read more
Chile says drought here to stay, lays out plan to ensure water
Reading Time: 2 minutes Santiago | Reuters — With no end in sight to a drought that has blighted Chile for the last several years, the government will invest in desalinization plants and reservoirs to ensure access to potable water, President Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday. The drought, which began in 2007, is hampering copper production in the world’s […] Read more
No relief in sight for U.S. West’s drought in spring outlook
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Drought pressures will increase in California and western areas of the U.S. this spring even as the dry season begins, the government’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday. “Periods of record warmth in the West and not enough precipitation during the rainy season cut short drought relief in California this winter and […] Read more
California tightens water regulations amid long drought
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sacramento | Reuters — Water regulators in California voted on Tuesday to outlaw watering the lawn within 48 hours of a rainstorm, the latest effort to spur Californians to conserve as the state enters its fourth year of drought. Facing a dramatic slowdown in voluntary conservation efforts by property owners, the state Water Resources Control […] Read more
Washington’s governor declares drought emergency
Reading Time: 2 minutes San Francisco | Reuters –– Washington state Governor Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency across three regions including key agricultural hubs of the U.S. Northwest state on Friday, citing near-record-low snowpack levels ahead of the spring runoff. Watersheds on the Olympic Peninsula, east side of the central Cascade Mountains including Yakima and Wenatchee, and Walla […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
