Average rainfall means drought persists

California is still in a drought despite precipitation year totals that are only slightly below average.

Area rainfall, measured in Sonora from July 1 to June 30, is at 28.63 inches— compared to a 31.12-inch average taken over 121 years. Angels Camp received a seasonal 25.42 inches.
   

Sierra Nevada precipitation totals are about 97 percent of average, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

Many reservoir levels are still lower than normal following below-average precipitation years in 2007 and 2008. Other reservoirs, like Don Pedro Reservoir, have recently risen to above-average levels due to this year’s quick snowmelt.

New Melones Reservoir is at 54 percent of capacity and 86 percent of average for this time of the year. But Don Pedro Reservoir is at 85 percent of capacity and 112 percent of average.

 “Hydrologically, we are better off this time this year than last year,” said Arthur Hinojosa, Department of Water Resources hydrology branch chief. “Drought is really about impact— if no one cares, is it a drought?”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently declared a third year of drought and wrote a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a major disaster declaration because of water shortages in Fresno County “continuing as a result of severe drought conditions that have devastated California for the third consecutive year.”

The letter also lists water delivery restrictions on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — part of an effort to aid endangered Delta smelt — as a contributor to the drought conditions. Further delivery restrictions could be put into place to protect salmon in the near future, the letter warns.

Water restrictions and dry years have caused inland reservoirs to run nearly dry— like San Luis Reservoir, which much of Fresno County’s farm economy relies upon.

As a result, millions of acres of farmland are being fallowed and more than 3,200 jobs have been lost in Fresno County, Schwarzenegger wrote.

“I call upon the president to declare a federal emergency to help bring additional resources for drought relief and to speed up efforts to improve our water system,” said state Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto.