This year, winter storms could be on the way for California, thanks to a Pacific marine heatwave that could trigger storms along the West Coast.
California’s wet season started with a bang, or at least a drizzle, as rain pitter-pattered on the Bay Area last week.
But the state’s water experts say at this time of year, they still have to prepare for floods, drought or even both. Oct. 1 officially began the rainy season in California, and with this seasonal shift, they sealed their record of annual rain and snow and started a fresh tally.
The WateReuse Association of California recently honored Olivenhain Municipal Water District, San Elijo Joint Powers Authority and Leucadia Wastewater with its 2025 Outreach and Education Program of the Year award, according to a news release.
Presented during the association’s annual conference, the award recognizes the three North County agencies’ 2024 Water Career Day, which welcomed high school and college students and military veterans to learn about careers in water, wastewater and recycled water. Each agency engaged with attendees at interactive stations, performed demonstrations on real-world infrastructure, and offered insight into the industry’s wide variety of career pathways.
In the 1974 classic “Chinatown,” water wasn’t just water — it was power. Los Angeles power brokers quietly drained reservoirs, drove up scarcity, while ordinary citizens paid the price in higher costs and lost trust.
Half a century later, San Diego County is living its own version of “Chinatown,” and the stage is set at Lake Hodges.
Disputes over water have been a constant in California history, and San Diego is going through a particularly rough patch on that front these days.
At the center of the current maelstrom is Dan Denham, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority.
The Environmental Protection Agency was already reeling from massive staff cuts and dramatic shifts in priority and policy. A government shutdown raises new questions about how it can carry out its founding mission of protecting America’s health and environment with little more than skeletal staff and funding.
In President Donald Trump’s second term, the EPA has leaned hard into an agenda of deregulation and facilitating Trump’s boosting of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to meet what he has called an energy emergency.
California water officials are warning that the state “must be prepared for extreme weather events of all kinds,” even as water levels for the state’s reservoirs remain near or above average as the new water year began Wednesday.
California is entering a new water year with the largest reservoir in the State Water Project (SWP), Lake Oroville, at 109 percent of average capacity. Despite this promising start, officials stress the ongoing threat posed by climate extremes driven by a warming atmosphere. The state faces the dual challenges of preparing for both drought and floods, as climate variability increases the frequency and severity of weather swings. Recent scientific outlooks warn of a likely La Niña event in the fall, which could deliver increased dryness but also the risk of intense storms and flooding. These dynamics underscore the importance of water management and emergency preparedness for communities across California.
A La Niña pattern for the first few months of this water year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30) means there is potential for extreme weather events, both flooding and drought, depending on where you are located in California.
Despite Sacramento receiving 76% of its normal rainfall for this past water year, Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, is currently sitting at 109% of average.
For as long as there have been people in what is now California, the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada have held masses of ice, according to new research that shows the glaciers have probably existed since the last Ice Age more than 11,000 years ago.
The remnants of these glaciers, which have already shrunk dramatically since the late 1800s, are retreating year after year, and are projected to melt completely this century as global temperatures continue to rise.
The driest water year in nearly a decade ended Tuesday in San Diego, which recorded 5.07 inches of precipitation, barely half its seasonal average, the National Weather Service said.
The shortage of rain has produced varying levels of drought across the county, elevating the risk of wildfires at the time of year when dry Santa Ana winds begin to blow.
