Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

A dry side channel of the Tule River near the town center of Porterville, Calif., Oct. 5, 2016. Numerous trees and orchards have been removed or destroyed during the drought. After regulators lifted the mandatory 25 percent statewide cut following a relatively wet winter, water use is up again, a slide in behavior that has stirred concern among state officials and drawn criticism that California abandoned the restrictions too quickly.

Stuart Palley / The New York Times

A dry side channel of the Tule River near the town center of Porterville, Calif., Oct. 5, 2016. Numerous trees and orchards have been removed or destroyed during the drought. After regulators lifted the mandatory 25 percent statewide cut following a relatively wet winter, water use is up again, a slide in behavior that has stirred concern among state officials and drawn criticism that California abandoned the restrictions too quickly.