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What will the 2016-20127 winter deliver, weatherwise, for California and Arizona farmers?

AccuWeather says that northern California could have a stormy start to the season while points south of the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe will remain warm and dry for the entire winter season.

Much the same is predicted for all of Arizona.

AccuWeather’s long-range forecaster, Paul Pastelok, thinks December could include snow pack in northern California before high pressure returns and makes an impenetrable goal-line stance on storms trying to move into the Pacific Northwest and California.

A simple truth: Our homes, businesses and communities in western Los Angeles County served by the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District would not exist were it not for water from Northern California.

But the reliability of those supplies is at long-term risk.

This high quality Sierra Nevada supply flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But, deteriorating environmental conditions have led to greater pumping restrictions. State and federal agencies are developing a plan to modernize this water system by building new intakes and a twin tunnel pipeline delivery system to reliably capture water and deliver it to millions of Californians.

Last year at this time, weather forecasters had a pretty good idea of what was in store as California headed into the rainy season. The Pacific Ocean surface was warming, and they were predicting one of the strongest El Niño weather patterns in recorded history. El Niño ended up making an appearance, but it wasn’t the series of gully washers for which some had hoped. This year, the forecast is even less certain. “It really is a crapshoot,” said Michelle Mead, a meteorologist with the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District provides water and flood control to nearly 2 million people in 15 cities and owns and operates the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center (SVAWPC), the largest advanced water purification plant in Northern California. Jim Fiedler is the chief operating officer of the San Jose-based organization, and leads its water program. He spoke with Water Deeply last week about his work and the challenges his organization faces five years into the drought.

A transparent and universal platform for sharing water data across the state will result from a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown and authored by Assemblyman Bill Dodd, D-Napa. “The drought has exposed the need for a modern water information system to address the state’s water supply,” Dodd said. “California does not suffer from a lack of water data, but from a lack of usable water data needed to make smart decisions. This bill will create instant and accessible water information that will better enable water managers to cope with future drought conditions.”