![]() ![]() June, July and August marked the warmest summer on record for the Northern Hemisphere, while September broke global heat records by a large margin.įor the time being, however, much of California’s landscape remains somewhat drenched, including parts of Southern California that received several inches of rain in August from Hilary. “It will likely require several more years in addition to what happened this past year - and more focused efforts on groundwater recharge and reduced demand,” said Paul Gosselin, DWR’s deputy director of sustainable groundwater management.Īnd while winter looks potentially wet, the state is also contending with warming conditions that could further sap supplies. Aquifers in some parts of the state - particularly heavily agricultural regions of the Central Valley - remain much below normal, state data show. Nearly 400,000 acre-feet was diverted from the river and sent to areas where it could spread out and percolate down into the ground, with an additional 1.2 million acre-feet in temporary permits issued by state agencies.īut while groundwater storage saw a boost this year, it will take more than one wet season to replenish supplies that have been sapped by years of overuse and drought. ![]() ![]() In March, the State Water Resources Control Board approved a plan to divert some floodwaters from the San Joaquin River to replenish aquifers that had been depleted by agricultural pumping and years of drought. In addition to flood threats, the abundance of water this year also led many to question whether the state was doing enough to capture all of that water - including some lawmakers who called for officials to relax environmental pumping restrictions that limited the amount of water that could be captured from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta during the storms. “Hopefully, the failures will bring us to action on some of these.” “These floods and droughts identify weaknesses in the system,” he said. Lund, of UC Davis, said that while large cities tend to be fairly well defended against flooding, many smaller places such as Pajaro aren’t adequately protected. The state is also readying more flood control material than last year, including more “muscle wall” - or material to help shore up levees and contain water - and 2.4 million additional sandbags, officials said.Ĭalifornia ‘Nature gave us a lifeline’: Southern California refills largest reservoir in dramatic fashionĭiamond Valley Lake - a backbone of the region’s water storage system - should refill to its full capacity by the end of this year, officials said. And we just do not have extensive flood systems on the coast of California, so that’s an area that we’re paying particular attention to going into this year.”Īmong the state’s preparations are $52 million in funding to assist with local flood projects and critical levee repairs. “I think there is potential for a lot of strong storms to come into California and have coastal issues. “The coast was particularly hit hard, and that keeps me awake a little bit at night with going into an El Niño year,” said Gary Lippner, DWR’s deputy director of flood management and dam safety. Storms coming straight off the Pacific could equate to more coastal impacts like those seen in Pajaro. Still, the possibility of more storms - particularly along the coast - is cause for concern, officials said. The climate pattern is often associated with wetter conditions in Southern California, but is less informative about Northern California, which is where most of the state’s water supply comes from. “We’ve always had intense variability in California, but the suddenness of the shift from ‘very extreme dry’ to ‘very extreme wet’ is something that we think needs additional research to understand how changes in the climate may have played a factor, or not, in that extreme shift,” Nemeth said.Īdding to the challenge is the possibility of a strong El Niño event this winter.
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