water

Regulators say California will provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms for the first time in years thanks to winter storms that filled reservoirs and runoff from a record snowpack.

California ended its voluntary statewide target, triggering concerns from experts that many water supplies remain depleted. Other drought measures remain in place.

While DWR Director Karla Nemeth and her team are hearing from counties about needed resources, they are also assessing the state’s authority to intervene, if needed.

California has been deluged by storms this winter, but fixing the state's severe drought will take more than rain. The state had deeper problems in how it uses water.

As storms melt snowpack, managers released water to prevent reservoirs from overflowing and flooding Central Valley towns — and that sends water into the ocean. The warm rains melt snow that ideally would last into spring and help with water deliveries.

Groundwater plans, largely serving low-income Latino communities, were deemed inadequate for preventing dry wells and sinking land.

Communities still have dry wells. Restoring groundwater takes decades, with costly, long-term replenishment projects — and ultimately, much less pumping.

Following the first snow survey of the season, state officials said that snow depth is above the historical average, but they cautioned that the recent weather isn't enough by itself to end the drought.

For years, powerful farmers in Westlands Water District fought for more water from the state's rivers. Now some are changing course, because there's no more water to be found.

The information gleaned from the aerial surveys will give water managers a much clearer picture of what to expect when spring runoff begins.