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A surprisingly wet October continues to bring gentle rains to the Sacramento region, providing some relief to watersheds parched by five years of drought.

But as scattered showers hit the region Thursday, forecasters and hydrologists said the promising start to the rainy season, while helpful, doesn’t necessarily mean the drought will end this winter.

This October is the 12th wettest in Sacramento in the 139 years tracked by the National Weather Service. As much as 2 more inches of rain might fall before the month is over.

October 27, 2016 – This U.S. Drought Monitor week saw deterioration in drought conditions across the South and Southeast in an area extending from South Carolina westward to eastern Texas and northward into Tennessee. In the Southeast, a persistent dry weather pattern during the past 60 days continues to negatively impact the agricultural sector as well as hydrologic and soil moisture conditions across much of the region.

What will it take for California to not just get by during drought, but to really flourish? Erin Mackey, a drinking water and reuse process engineer at Brown and Caldwell, the largest engineering consulting firm focused on the U.S. environmental sector, believes it will take both a shift in how we think of water-use efficiency, as well as the development of a more diverse water supply. That’s why her work is focused on helping clients explore water resources so they can use them smartly and efficiently.

California farmers and ranchers say they’re drowning in proposals, regulations, plans and deadlines affecting the future of water supplies. The latest wave came in the form of a “draft science report” from the State Water Resources Control Board that would potentially require dedication of more Sacramento River water to fish. The draft scientific report for fisheries and flows in the Sacramento River and Bay-Delta represents part of what the board calls Phase 2 of its update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan.

The state of California has set big goals for switching over to green energy within the next decade. The difference with these energy source, they depend on the weather. Water (hydro energy), wind (wind turbines), and sun (solar energy) are the key components to generating renewable energy. In California, lawmakers have set high standards for how green we want to be in the next 10 to 20 years. The goal is to have switched over 33% of the state to renewable energy sources by 2020 and half of the state by 2030.