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California is in drought: Here are the conditions
Drought Map on 01/24/2023

California is in drought: Here are the conditions
Climate change has fundamentally altered our state’s hydrologic system – intensifying extreme weather and leading to longer, drier periods. We are entering a fourth year of drought and need to use less water.
We ended Water Year 2022 on Sept. 30 following a year featuring continued extreme drought with historically dry months and a record-shattering heatwave.
The 2022 Water Year ended with total annual average statewide precipitation at 17.9" and 76% of percent of historical average. Statewide reservoir storage ended the water year at 14.70 Million Acre Feet and 69% of historical average.
A growing body of evidence is starting to show that our current drought is an extension of the 2012-2016 drought, interrupted by just a few wet years.
Do we have enough water stored?
In drier seasons, we rely on other sources of water. These include reservoirs and melted snowpack. But climate change is causing extreme weather and changing the amount of rain and snow we get, impacting how we are able to capture and distribute water. Reservoir levels, which receive water from melting snowpack, have been impaired the last three years by a declining snowpack.
Major reservoir levels
Reservoirs get us through the dry months
of average levels
Statewide snowpack levels
Snow melt feeds our reservoirs & rivers
from 1991-2020
What about our groundwater supply?
Monitoring Wells
Below Normal Level
Dry Wells Reported - Year to Date
Precipitation as of 01/26/2023
California’s annual precipitation can vary greatly from year to year and region to region. The map of California shows how this water year’s precipitation compares to what has been observed historically. The chart below provides a summary of California’s current statewide precipitation statistics.