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Feelings were running high—and interest was evident—as hundreds of people turned out for our fall conference last week in Sacramento. The lunchtime program featured a panel of five experts representing water interests from across the state.

The day opened with a short video celebrating the PPIC Water Policy Center’s first 10 years, followed by a welcome by center director Letitia Grenier, who thanked the audience for braving the rain to attend. “An atmospheric river decided to come to our water conference this year, which is very on-brand,” she said with a smile.

Since Oct. 1, downtown L.A. has gotten 4.14 inches of rain, quite a bit more than the average 0.89 inches. For November, the average over the last 30 years is just 0.78 inches, but we’ve had 2.82 inches so far. This is currently the 19th wettest November since 1877, and given that there’s more rain to come, this could become one of the top 10 starts to a rainy season.

Another storm going to drop between a half-inch and 1 inch of rain across much of the area, and as much as 2 inches in the mountains. Several inches of snow could fall above 5,000 feet. Downed trees and minor debris flows are possible as strong winds and concentrated downpours pass through the area. We could see rain on Thursday and Friday as well, but the forecast is a bit uncertain. Next week things should dry out and warm up, with temperatures climbing into the 70s and 80s.

A late fall storm that soaked the North State and brought high wind gust is padding rain totals for what has been a wet start to Northern California’s water year.

As of Wednesday, Nov. 12, the Redding Regional Airport had received 4.24 inches of rain since Oct. 1, which was the start of 2025-26 water year, according to the National Weather Service.

Oregon water managers are celebrating an exciting milestone this fall. Owyhee Reservoir is ending its irrigation season with 170% of its 35-year average water volume, which is a sign of much-needed stability for local farmers and communities.

Capital Press reported that officials say the reservoir’s healthy levels are great news for the coming seasons. When the irrigation season closed on October 10, the reservoir held 357,000 acre-feet of water — nearly double what’s typical for the time of year.

As a federally imposed deadline for a Colorado River agreement came and went without a deal, Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Legislature called for the federal government to intervene. Hobbs and the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Legislature blamed Colorado and the other Upper Basin states for the impasse.