You are now in California and the U.S. category.

The powerful storm that pounded California this week seemed like the break the state so desperately needed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. In fact, there is probably no storm capable of washing away California’s water woes, according to scientists. The state simply is using too much water – even during wet years. As a result, thousands of miles of prime agricultural area in the Central Valley are sinking. Roads and bridges are cracking, threatening to cause $1 billion in damage. Homeowners are watching their water supply dwindle.

Water conservation would continue in California until at least May under a proposal regulators are considering. Currently, emergency drought regulations require cities and water agencies to prove they have enough water to meet future demands or they must cut back water use. Those rules are set to expire at the end of February. But the State Water Resources Control Board has proposed extending them, despite the heavy rain and snow this winter.

The good news is that rainfall year to date is now slightly above average at Lake Cachuma, which typically supplies half the water needs for South Coast residents. The bad news is that Santa Barbara County remains in the throes of what federal meteorologists describe as “extreme drought conditions.” Only two percent of the California land mass now fits that category and Lake Cachuma qualifies as the most distressed reservoir in California.

In case you missed it, we traveled to East Los Angeles to present our side at the Central Basin Municipal Water District Special Meeting on California WaterFix.

Rain has finally been falling hard in California, where reservoirs are filling up fast. After six years of punishing drought, that’s obviously a good thing. But it creates a balancing-act challenge for the state’s water managers. Keep too much holed up in storage and the system will overflow if the precipitation keeps coming. Open the hatches too much and, if Mother Nature doesn’t provide any more deluges, California will be parched when the rain stops.