More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
California water agencies that serve 27 million people will get just 5% of what they requested from the state to kick off 2023, water officials announced Thursday.
The news of limited water comes as California concludes its driest three-year stretch on record and as water managers brace for a fourth year with below-average precipitation. It also means water-saving measures are likely to continue, including calls for people to rip up decorative grass, limit outdoor watering, take shorter showers and run dishwashers only when full.
A storm currently bringing snow and rain to the northern end of the state has been welcome news, but people shouldn't get too optimistic, warned Michael Anderson, the state climatologist. Last year two major storms in October and December were followed by months of bone-dry weather.
"Don't get too carried away by any one storm," Anderson told reporters.
Much of California's water supply comes from snow that falls in the mountains during the winter and enters the watershed as it melts through spring. Some of it is stored in reservoirs for later use, while some is sent south through massive pumping systems.
The system is known as the State Water Project, and it provides water to two-thirds of the state's people and 1,172 square miles (3,035 square kilometers) of farmland. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which services Los Angeles and much of Southern California, relies on the state for about one-third of its water supply.
Southern California's supply is further threatened by the ongoing crisis afflicting the Colorado River, another major source for the heavily populated region.
The allocations could go up if California has a wet winter. Last December, for example, water agencies were told they would get zero per cent of requested supplies beyond what was needed for activities like drinking, bathing and maintaining sanitation. The state later boosted that to 15 per cent before eventually settling at 5 per cent.
Some districts may get additional water if the 5 per cent isn't enough to cover critical health and safety needs, said Molly White, water operations manager for the State Water Project.
Given the uncertainty about how long the drought will last, the state wants to keep water in Lake Oroville, its largest reservoir. Right now, it's about half as full as it usually is at this time of year. So officials plan to tap excess water from winter storms to provide the 5% supply and take some water out of the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, White said.
The federal government also controls some water supply in California, much of which goes to farmers in the vast Central Valley who grow fruits, nuts and vegetables. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation doesn't issue its first water allocations until February but on Monday warned farmers and cities to prepare for limited supplies.
"If drought conditions extend into 2023, Reclamation will find it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to meet all the competing needs of the Central Valley Project without beginning the implementation of additional and more severe water conservation actions," the bureau said in a news release.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”