Drought still grips three-quarters of California but 25 percent are drought-free

The most recent report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, is reporting that nearly 25 percent of the state has shed its drought classification. The weekly national report has indicted that 12 percent of the state had normal or better moisture.  Likewise, another 12 percent was reported to be unusually dry but no longer in a drought status.

Early autumn rains, and snow at the higher elevations, have allowed five California counties to be lifted from the drought classification.  Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Trinity and Shasta counties, along with the uppermost northwest corner of Mendocino County – all northwest California counties – are enjoying the best moisture readings since March 2013.

Additionally, the California Department of Water Resources is reporting that Lake Shasta reservoir is at 105 percent of its historical average as of Nov. 3 while Trinity Lake reservoir is at 66 percent of historical average. Both reservoirs are twice as full as they were a year ago.

But water officials throughout the state have emphasized that 75 percent of the state is still plagued by five-plus years of drought.  The drought continues to grip much of Central and Southern California and officials are still stressing water conservation as the new norm throughout the state. Some 43 percent of the state is classified as in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought. Central and Southern California are home to the state’s majority of people – some 39 million – and where the majority of the state’s crops are grown.

Whereas California’s Climatologist Dr. Michael L. Anderson said, the state has witnessed “a good start to the water year,” he responded that it’s still early in the water year. “We really need to wait until we get into the main part of our wet season” said Anderson.

Bill Patzert, a climatologist with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada-Flintridge was more cautious saying, “We’re still on our knees. To get out of a serious drought … it will take many years of above normal (rainfall).”

While the drought continues in California’s Central Valley farmers have fallowed some fields and relied on groundwater for their crops.  Reliance on groundwater is responsible for a host of emerging problems in the farm-belt including parts of the valley floor to sink up to two inches resulting in cracks in the walls of canals, cracked pavement in some areas and building integrity being called into question. A University of California at Davis study estimates that the drought has cost the California economy approximately $2.5 billion in 2015.

The drought has also caused wells to go dry and many central California communities – mostly in impoverished locations — have been forced to rely on water tanks placed on their properties that are dependent on trucked-in water and/or bottled water deliveries.

Max Gomberg with the State Water Resources Control Board succinctly said, “…one month of good rain is not a drought-buster. You need a lot more of that until the entire state can climb out of drought.”  He continued saying, “We’ve been in drought for five years now. That doesn’t go away overnight.”