The warnings have been ominous this winter: California is headed into the worst drought in modern history. The water supply is drying up. Or, as one water association declared last week, "Things just keep getting worse and worse."
Is it really that bad?
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, March 04, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
California drought: A headline on an article in Tuesday's A Section about California's drought conditions said that the Sierra Nevada snowpack was up and reservoirs were at 80% of normal levels for this time of year. The snowpack is at 80% of its normal level. Reservoir storage is about 70% of normal levels.
If you look at the numbers, the answer is no. Not only have a series of February storms pushed up mountain snowpack levels, but by historical standards the current three-year drought is far from the worst.
Monday, the state Department of Water Resources announced that the mountain snowpack that feeds the state's reservoirs has reached 80% of normal for the date. Precipitation in the northern and southern Sierra has climbed above 90% of average and another storm is on the way.
"Right now it doesn't look too bleak," said Maury Roos, the state's chief hydrologist. "I think we'll have more runoff than last year."
The water interests who have spit out grim news releases the last two months were silent Monday in the face of the growing snowpack.
Those who would like to build new reservoirs and canals and to weaken environmental regulations have invoked the drought like a mantra in recent weeks.
A recently introduced congressional bill that would allow federal officials to relax endangered-species protections in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is titled the California Drought Alleviation Act.
"For over 100 years in California, the drought argument has been used consistently to justify actions, and I think this is no exception," said Robert Wilkinson, director of the Water Policy Program at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.
In late January, a public relations firm representing state water contractors trumpeted: "California's water supply dries up." It was highlighting the need for a delta "fix," including a canal bypass.
Sen. Dave Cogdill, a Republican who represents agriculture-dependent Modesto, called the drought "epic" when he introduced a $10-billion water bond package last week that includes funding for new reservoirs and other infrastructure.
State and federal water managers earlier this year sought to relax delta water quality standards, arguing that because of the drought, it needed to hold more water in upstream reservoirs to preserve cold water flows for salmon in coming months.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last month called for fee increases and outdoor watering restrictions, citing the state's "severe water shortages."
