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The ferocious winter storm that flooded roadways and knocked down old Eucalyptus trees in South County has helped with water conservation measures. The San Diego County Water Authority in the past few months has officially declared an end to the  five-year long water drought. While the drought appears to be over, the California Water Resources Control board still believes water agencies and users need to conserve water. The drought is no more because of conservation methods by local water agencies and because of the abundance of rain this winter.

The crisis over the last few weeks at Oroville Dam was about how to handle large amounts of water flowing into the lake with both of the reservoir’s spillways damaged. But there also was a seismic angle to the story. As Lake Oroville swung from being at 41% of capacity to 101% in just two months, scientists are asking whether the filling of the reservoir at the fastest rate in at least a generation can produce a damaging earthquake.

The deluge that hit the county Monday has done wonders for local reservoirs, which — buoyed by an exceptionally wet winter — were already beginning to recover from years of punishing drought. On the border of San Diego and Escondido, Lake Hodges is now 88 percent full. It was just 57 percent full 10 days earlier, according to data gathered by the San Diego County Water Authority and City of San Diego. Lower Otay’s spill gates had to be opened to drain off excess water and Lake Poway was just inches away from overflowing.

Throughout the past couple weeks, I’ve felt almost as if I needed to build an ark to get to class. The greater Los Angeles area has been slammed with copious amounts of rain this season. During these monsoons, my trek from De Neve Holly all the way to Bunche Hall has been nothing short of a drenched, waterlogged nightmare. During this wet, wet winter quarter, you name it, we’ve seen it: soaked backpacks, umbrellas turned inside out, disgruntled and sopping wet students

How much did the recent series of rain storms in California contribute to lessening the state’s drought conditions? The National Weather Service office in San Diego tweeted a satellite photo showing California finally “greening up”. NWS San Diego also tweeted changes at Lake Hodges. A 2014 photo shows an area of the lake completely dry. A March 1, 2017 comparison photo shows the lake filled with water.