California

"Few in agriculture have shaped the debate over water more than the several hundred owners of an arid finger of farmland west of Fresno."

"The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Justice have reached a $22-million settlement to clean up a former industrial site 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles."

"With California working to list atrazine as toxic to the reproductive system, three of the United States' most-widely used pesticides are under fire for adverse health effects."

"A series of powerful snowstorms in the Sierra Nevada has resulted in a small milestone in drought-stricken California: The snowpack is now higher than average for this time of year."

"Last weekend, representatives of 195 countries reached a landmark accord in Paris to lower planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. On Tuesday, local leaders in San Diego committed to making a city-size dent in the problem."

"Southern California Gas Co. says it detected a gas leak on Oct. 23 in its Aliso Canyon storage facility. A month and a half later, it still hasn't been able to stop it."

"A third winter-like storm in a week brought rain and strong winds to much of Northern California and snow to the Sierra Nevada during the weekend."

"FRESNO, Calif. — In a trailer park tucked among irrigated orchards that help make California's San Joaquin Valley the richest farm region in the world, 16-year-old Giselle Alvarez, one of the few English-speakers in the community of farmworkers, puzzles over the notices posted on front doors: There's a danger in their drinking water."

"LOS ANGELES -- The head of Southern California Gas Co said it would take at least three more months to plug a massive underground leak of natural gas that has been seeping into the air since mid-October and now accounts for a quarter of the state's entire methane emissions."