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Last year was one of the driest years on record in Santa Barbara County, with below-average rainfall and shrinking reservoir levels. Water agencies already are drawing comparisons to the 1987-1991-era drought, and say voluntary and mandatory conservation orders may be coming soon. 

The county is four months into its third dry water year, which started Sept. 1, with only 22 percent of the normal rainfall. Only one location — the U.S. Forest Service station on Figueroa Mountain — has had more than two inches of rain in that time, according to the county’s Public Works Department. 

Every reservoir is drying up, too, officials say. Lake Cachuma, which provides water to five water districts, was at 40.3-percent capacity as of Jan. 1 and many jurisdictions have started using more state water to supplement supplies. - Noozhawk

Chef Ricardo Zarate and his business partner, Stephane Bombet, are parting ways. The two took the concept for what was Zarate’s original tiny Peruvian stand in the Mercado la Paloma and opened a string of upscale restaurants within a couple of years -- starting with Picca Peru, then a refashioned Mo-Chica downtown, followed by Paiche in Marina Del Rey. The latest (and the first out-of-town location), Blue Tavern, opened in Santa Barbara just last month. "After five years we decided very, very amicably to part ways," Bombet said. "I have a different vision, I want to work with different chefs on different concepts. That’s been my goal. What we created didn’t allow that. - LATimes

Vintner Richard Sanford may have found the ingredient that will keep the wine flowing at his Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards: EnCap Investments LP’s Robert Zorich.  

Mr. Zorich has offered to purchase the Santa Ynez Valley, Calif., property for $1.7 million in a deal that would allow Mr. Sanford and his wife, Thekla, to continue living and producing wine there as employees. The sale would be tested during an auction next month.  

Neither Mr. Sanford nor Mr. Zorich responded to request for comment.  

Mr. Sanford, a hall-of-fame winemaker, is credited with bringing the pinot noir grape to California’s Central Coast. But his winery has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since July 2012. - WSJ