When the San Lorenzo Valley Water district presented its Bloom and Acacia eradication plan for the Olympia watershed, it used portions of two documents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that supported the district’s claim that it could begin work on the plan immediately, with no required permits.

Rainfall tops 100 inchesThough the water year is not officially over until Sept. 30, the area’s rainy months ended in April. And what a delightfully wet year it was.Indeed, the entire state climbed its way out of the five-year drought, with rainfall rivaling the torrential rains of 1982-83.In north Scotts Valley, where Ferd Bergholz maintains a private weather station, the bucket tipped at 100.89 inches. That’s far above 43.09, which is normal for this time of year.Felton received 92.28 inches for the year. Average for this period is 48.39 inches, according to a Cal Fire report.At Cresta Vista in Boulder Creek 82.31 inches of rainfall has fallen this season.Meanwhile, climate experts are monitoring strong signs that El Nino may be making a comeback in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.“There is significant multi-model agreement that a significant event may unfold in the coming months,” Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA. “That would be pretty eyebrow-raising, since it has only been a year since the last big El Nino.”Swain added that it is still too early to predict what kind of effect this event would have on California.During the 2015-2016 El Nino, the northern tier of the state received above-average rainfall, Central California measured average rain, and the southern part of the state had below-average rainfall.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials on Tuesday announced final approval of a plan for an endangered beetle that will allow construction of a new Scotts Valley Middle School to begin in earnest.

In a stunning development in the continuing controversy over the proposed removal of invasive plant species from a protected watershed in Felton, the author of the eradication plan abruptly quit last week, leaving its implementation in limbo.

The heavy winter rains and a warm, sunny spring have sparked one of the greatest Callifornia wildflower blooms in decades. It has also has fueled a similar bloom among “non-native,” “exotic” or “invasive” species.

Directors and the manager of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District confronted their critics head-on last week in a tense, standing-room-only setting in the Felton Community Hall.

The Scotts Valley School District has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for its new middle school, even though the project remained stalled this week by a Presidential order.