California Gearing Up to Fulfill Water Supply Needs of 27 Million People After Barrage of Storms

A series of winter storms have boosted reservoirs and snowpack in California.

Because of this, agencies that serve 27 million people received an increase in water supply from the state, officials announced Thursday.

Less than two months after stating that it could only provide 5% of the supplies requested by the 29 agencies that depend on the State Water Project in 2023, the Department of Water Resources increased its allocation to 30%.

One of the main parts of California's water system is the State Water Project, a complicated network of dams, canals, and reservoirs.

The allocation may change as the remainder of the wet season progresses, according to officials.

However, the news represents a major turning point for California, which has been engulfed in a severe drought for more than three years.

The state has not released an allocation of 30% or more since 2019.

The final allocation for last year was only 5%.

A Barrage of Storms, Snow, and Atmospheric Rivers

Instead, the state was inundated by nine strong atmospheric rivers, which not only increased reservoir and snowpack levels but also brought about floods and landslides.

The snowpack in the entire state was 216% of the average as of Thursday.

According to state data, the biggest reservoirs in the state also experienced some drought recovery, with Lake Shasta on Thursday reaching 55% (from 32%) of capacity and Lake Oroville reaching 63% (from 30%) just one month earlier.

According to the DWR, the reservoirs collectively gained 1.62 million acre-feet of water stored as a direct outcome of the winter storms, or about enough water to supply 5.6 million households with water for a year.

Many organizations will be relieved by the increased allocation, including the sizable Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water supply to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as well as 25 other organizations in the area.

In December, the MWD declared a drought emergency and issued a warning that if conditions did not improve, mandatory service cuts would be imposed across the entire service area, Yahoo News reported.

Far From Over

Adel Hagekhalil, the MWD General Manager, said that while the recent storms will help ease the acute emergency in areas that rely on water supply from the State Water Project, the water challenges in Southern California are far from over.

Depleted reservoirs in the state are beginning to rebound from record lows, and this increased distribution will undoubtedly help communities hardest hit by this drought recover as well.

He claimed that to meet demand, they keep draining Diamond Valley Lake, the biggest nearby reservoir.

Officials cautioned that there are still two months left in California's rainy season and that dry conditions could return.

The majority of California has equal chances of wet or dry weather through April, according to the most recent seasonal outlook from the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.

Southern California's future is more likely to be dry.

Additionally, surface water conditions are not the only factor contributing to California's drought.

The state's underground aquifer system, or groundwater, requires more than a few storms to replenish, particularly after years of consistent overpumping.

Also Read: California's Sierra Nevada Snowpack Growing 200% Above Normal Amount: Water Supply, Flood, or Avalanche?   

Further Supply Reductions

Additionally, the Colorado River, Southern California's other main water source, did not profit from the atmospheric river storms.

40 million people in the West rely on the river for their water supply, but climate change coupled with overuse has caused it to reach its limit.

Hagekhalil said that referring to the Colorado River, Southern California may experience substantial drops in that supply starting next year.

Ted Craddock, a DWR deputy director, said that although the state hasn't given out an allocation of 30% or more in more than three years, the amount is still only about 50% of the average allocation.

Since the department distributed a 100% allocation in April 2006, almost 20 years have passed.

But there's no denying the storms had an impact. According to the most recent report from the US Drought Monitor, the entire state of California has exited the two categories of exceptional and extreme drought.

43% of the state fell into those categories just three months ago, LA Times reported.

Related Article: Can Sierra Snowpack Alleviate Drought Conditions, Water Supply Shortage in California?