Some of California's largest reservoirs are less than half full with no rain in sight.
The Department of Water Resources says Lake Shasta is 37% full, and 54% of average capacity as of Thursday. Lake Oroville is at 47% of capacity which is 77% of average. Folsom Lake is 55% full and 113% of average for this time of year. The long range outlook this summer will also depend on the runoff from the Sierra snow pack, with officials saying the statewide snow pack stands at 71% of average. That is down sharply from 154% of average on January 1st.
After a record snowfall in December was followed by a dry January, there are renewed concerns of drought - early forecasts show the rest of the wet season is not likely to produce enough precipitation as far as March of this year. “It certainly looks dry at least until the last week in February,” said David Rizzardo, hydrology section manager for the California Department of Water Resources, . “The worst possible scenario is it just remains completely dry. We’ve been at zero now for several weeks, and we really want to see that turn around.”