California’s major reservoirs are nearly full thanks to two wet winters, the Sierra snowpack is deeper than usual and the state is likely to receive even more rain and snow this spring.
Even following a water year like 2023 and historic flooding events in recent months, California continues to see the need to conserve water. A water year, or a “wet year,” according to the United States Geological Survey, is defined as a 12-month period in which precipitation levels are measured.
Time is running out for the West’s wet season, but recent storms have done wonders for the snowpack and the drought across much of the region, especially in California.
After a wet year and a push to conserve water in the Southwest, federal officials say the risk of the Colorado River’s reservoirs declining to critically low levels has substantially eased for the next couple of years.
The San Diego County Water Authority hopes to leverage last year’s wet winter to switch to a cheaper water supply and sell their more expensive water. Those savings would be passed onto its member agencies in smoothed future rates.
The National Weather Service modeling predicts a “historically strong” El Niño this winter, the first in five years. What does that mean for gardens? A warm winter and usually, rain.
Oct. 1 is the beginning of what hydrologists call the “water year.”
Historically, California’s reservoirs are near their lowest levels by this point after months of being drawn down, mostly to irrigate fields and orchards, during the state’s precipitation-free summer.
The Central Sierra Nevada and the rest of Central California could see another wetter-than-average winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its U.S. Winter Outlook for December through February.
A winter outlook map for precipitation, released Thursday, shows wetter-than-average conditions are most likely in areas that include parts of Central California and Nevada.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting higher-than-usual rainfall for parts of Nevada, California and Arizona this winter, but that rainfall isn’t expected to translate to gains in the water level at Lake Mead, regional climate experts said.
El Niño’s southern oscillation cycle began changing weather patterns this month and will continue through the winter to bring wetter conditions to the southern United States, said Jon Gottschalck, the operational prediction branch chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Water leaders across California are beginning to prepare for another wet winter, as a new water year got underway this week.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the state’s reservoirs are the fullest they’ve been at the start of a water year in 40 years. And, with an El Niño weather pattern looking more and more likely, so is the possibility for a lot of rain in the months ahead.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
