Environment

California Drought

California is experiencing the worst drought in its history, and the effects are being felt nationwide. Thus water issues have taken center stage in much of our reporting and the nation's.As the New York Times says, "Water has long been a precious resource in California, the subject of battles pitting farmer against city-dweller and northern communities against southern ones; books and movies have been made about its scarcity and plunder. Water is central to the state’s identity and economy, and a symbol of how wealth and ingenuity have tamed nature ..."As we continue through a fourth year of extreme drought conditions, you'll find all of our reporting on the related issues (and that of NPR and other member stations) in this centralized place.

Storms Help North State Water Outlook, Drought Status Continues

North State Public Radio

Published March 16, 2016 at 9:41 AM PDT

In a change of pace, North State waterways are swollen and there’s a healthy amount of fresh snow on the mountains.

Lake Shasta, the largest reservoir in California, is 81 percent full — that’s 106 percent of its historic average for this time of year.

KRCR meteorologist Rob Elvington explains further.

“We’re doing well with Shasta. Oroville is now about 101 percent of average, so Oroville is doing great too,” he said. “And both of those should fill up through the rest of this wet season regardless of how many storm systems come in.”

And that is a good thing. These reservoirs ideally fill up by May, then we use the water in the dry season and they dwindle until about November. But just because our lakes are looking good, it doesn’t mean we’re drought-free.

“It’s more than just the reservoir storage,” Elvington said. “There are long-term effects from drought that affect the eco-systems, groundwater supply, stream health — so there’s still a ways to go.”

He said the rest of this warm week will eat up a little bit of the increased snowpack below 7,000 feet or so, then we’ll see some more wet weather this coming Sunday and Monday — but nothing like these past few storms.