After a quarter-century span, not a single part of California is experiencing water scarcity. This significant achievement comes on the heels of grueling years marked by insufficient rainfall that worsened fire dangers and strained its huge agribusiness.
Thursday's report from the U.S. Drought Monitor confirmed that the entire state is free from drought or abnormal dryness. This development came after weeks of heavy precipitation that helped fill major reservoirs like Shasta and Oroville exceeding their historic averages.
“To those aged 25 and below you’ve always lived in a world where California has been in or emerging from drought,” noted a weather expert.
The journey here included intense and deadly winter storms that battered the state in the not-too-distant past, resulting in widespread flooding, electrical failures, and tragic losses. While those storms began to alleviate the drought, they did not eliminate it.
Even into late December, pockets like northeastern California were deemed abnormally dry. Substantial precipitation at the beginning of January finally erased those remaining dry spots.
Yet, hydrologists note that drought-free conditions is not the same as having no water worries. Latest data of the Sierra Nevada snowpack place it at only about 70% of the historical norm.
This snowpack, which supplies about a third of the state's water supply as it thaws later in the year, is an essential component for future water availability. State experts stress that it is too early to make predictions for the months ahead.
“The current pattern right now is more rain than snow,” explained a state water resources manager. “The goal is the snow accumulation to increase by April 1st so that we’re approaching the typical mark.”
While the drought map is entirely green, attention turns to sustaining this positive water situation throughout the rest of the year.
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