BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Heavy rains have drenched California for several weeks now, and the year has kicked off with a very healthy snowpack thanks to the wet weather, but just what does that mean for water storage levels across the state?
The U.S. Drought Monitor for the past year has been dark red, representing "exceptional drought," in all for Kern County. In just three weeks, however, that has changed, moving Kern up two levels to "severe drought."
State Climatologist Michael Anderson with the California Department of Water Resources says this has led to areas across the state pivoting from drought response to flood releases, but adds that he does expect the weather to change in the next few days.
"I wouldn't expect that extreme of a dry spell, but it does look like we are going to have a two-week run where where things might be drying," said Anderson. He says DWR expects drier weather for the rest of January after the storms have passed.
The last two weeks of rain, however, have had an impact on water storage in the state. According to Anderson, the smaller water systems that rely on annual rainwater to supply them for the rest of the year are now in a better position.
"Larger systems that have reservoir storage, are moving and recovering their conservation story, so you have recovery there," said Anderson.
Although the recent storms have helped the state's water supply, Shasta and Trinity Reservoirs, will need more water to fill, according to DWR State Water Project Operations Manager Molly White, because they are larger.
"Lake Shasta itself did surpass about 2.3 million acre-feet, but again, still below average at 82 percent of average for this time of year," said White.
Even closer to home, White says Pyramid Lake near Castaic has been requiring releases to manage increased runoff and lake levels.
Meanwhile, Lake Isabella saw its storage almost double from what it was at the end of December according to DWR records. However, even with that downpour, it is only at one-fifth of its capacity, holding around 100,000 acre-feet out of its approximate 500,000 acre-feet capacity. This means the lake is still well below flood reservation.
This is why the overall takeaway from Monday's DWP briefing was the same thing residents have been hearing all along: Conservation is still key.
"Making conservation a way of life, because we don't know when the next drought is going to happen, so we are always encouraging Californians to be smart with their water usage," said Ryan Endean, Assistant Deputy Director of Communications with DWR. "That doesn't really change with depending on how many storms we see. That is just good practice."
The Department of Water Resources also announced at their Friday, January 13 meeting that they will be fast-tracking efforts to capture floodwaters in order to recharge the groundwater basins that comprise the state's water savings account. The goal of this effort is to expand groundwater recharge by 500,000 acre-feet capacity.
