California Declared Drought Free

It’s been 25 years since California has been free of drought. Last week the United States Drought Monitor declared that none of the Golden State was in drought conditions.

The state isn’t even abnormally dry.

What makes this an incredible statement is what conditions looked like in Southern California in 2024. Los Angeles alone experienced the second-driest season in almost 150 years.

The state’s 24 major reservoirs are at 130% of average. They have 15 million acre-feet of water. The maximum capacity is 24 million acre-feet. That means the reservoirs at at 68% of capacity.

As of January 9th of this year the state’s snowpack is at 38%. That’s a concern and time will tell how the rest of the winter shapes up.

Another concern is well water. The California Water Watch says 25% of the groundwater monitoring wells are below normal. Source link: CalMatters — https://bit.ly/4pz2C6D