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The helicopter landed in the western hills above the San Joaquin Valley and out of the dust walked President John F. Kennedy. It was Aug. 18, 1962, and the sun would not let go. In the hollow of the mountain, where California was about to build its newest reservoir, the air felt like a blast furnace. Summer had baked the earth to a tan and shrunken form. The hills turned to hide. Though not a drop of rain had fallen from the sky since spring, no one in the assembled crowd, certainly not the cotton kings, thought of this as drought.

Dozens of water agencies in drought-weary California may only receive 20 percent of their requested deliveries in 2017, state officials said Monday. But the Department of Water Resources initial allocation forecast is twice more than that announced a year ago. Officials said winter storms in coming months may boost the first 2017 allocation, but point out California’s deep drought lingers. Initial allocations almost always change. The 10 percent allocation ultimately gave way to a 60 percent allocation for 2016. The rainy season has had a strong start with snow in the Sierra Nevada and rain in parched Southern California.

An impressive storm system drenched much of the Central San Joaquin Valley with rain over the weekend and dropped much-needed snow in the Sierra. Snow levels fell to around 3,500 feet in the foothills. “It was our first, real significant winter system,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Barlow said. An overall .77 inches of rain was recorded at the Fresno Air Terminal by Sunday. In Madera County, half an inch of rain was recorded at the Madera Airport by Sunday.