CA Has 'Miracle' Water Year With An El Niño Winter On Deck

CALIFORNIA — The Golden State is kicking off a new rainy season after closing the books on one of its wettest years. California approaches the next rainy season in much better shape than in years past.

After several years of drought, the state Department of Water Resources said last year was the sixth-wettest on record, and with the prospect of a strong El Niño winter ahead, California's water supply could soar even higher.

"This impressive turnaround has put us in a much better position this season in case we see a return to dry conditions," said Ted Craddock, deputy director of the State Water Project. "And we'll also be in a position to capture as much water as possible in the event we have a wet season like we saw last year, as well, while still providing flood control protection to downstream communities and meeting environmental and water delivery needs."

State officials measure "water years" from October through September annually so that the numbers capture the full extent of the fall and winter months when California gets most of its rain and snow. Last year, for the first time since 2006, the State Water Project delivered all water allocations to the public water agencies and farmlands it serves.

In Southern California, several areas landed in the top 10 water years on record, including downtown Los Angeles, which logged its seventh-wettest year since records began in 1877.

Around the Bay Area, rainfall totals for the water year were 165 percent of normal in Oakland, 148 percent in San Francisco, and 114 percent in San Jose. Bountiful Northern California rain left the Central Valley Project with twice as much water as the year before, enabling it to deliver all of its water allocations for the first time since 2017.

Following several years of extreme drought, when water reservoirs dipped dangerously low, California ended its water year with reservoirs at 128 percent of their historical average — one of the best performances on record.

Lake Oroville saw the biggest boon, where the State Water Project captured 3.5 million acre-feet of water in reservoirs, ending the water year at 136 percent of average, up from just 64 percent the year before. The San Luis Reservoir in Merced County ended the water year at 190 percent.

"Big picture, this was as close to a miracle year as you can get after following just the intensity of drought conditions," DWR Director Karla Nemeth said Tuesday.

The eye-popping totals were aided by a seemingly unending series of atmospheric rivers last year and historic snowfall in the mountains. Late-season storms helped propel California's statewide snowpack to 237 percent of its historical average in April, surpassing the 200 percent mark for just the fourth time since 1950 and the deepest on record since at least the mid-1980s.

Officials expect they will need to drain some water from the reservoirs to make room for more rain, and will be keeping a close eye on flood management and dam safety efforts in the event of another wet winter.

The Climate Prediction Center's latest projections show a 95 percent chance that El Niño conditions will stick around into early 2024, with a 71 percent chance that it will be strong. While no two El Niños are the same, stronger patterns tend to correlate with wetter winters in California, reaching peak strength between November and January.

Newly updated seasonal outlooks slightly favor above-average precipitation for Southern California between December and February, with equal chances for the central and northern portions of the Golden State.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release its 2023-24 U.S. Winter Outlook later this month.

The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.