Is California Heading Towards Another Drought Period?
“California will have another multi-year drought,” says Dr. Jay Lund, Co-Director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, in a recent post from the California Waterblog.
The 2020 Water Year (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020) was dry in Nothern California. In the 2021 Water Year, we’ve had essentially no October precipitation and almost none in November.
While a dry October and November does not necessarily mean 2021 will be another dry year, “there is a significant probability that this year will be the second year of a multi-year drought, since last year was dry, and this year seems likely to be dry. At this early time in the water year, the chances seem roughly even, but remain quite substantial.”
“California has immense hydrologic variability, with more droughts and floods per average year than any other part of the country. California’s water users, managers, and regulators should always be prepared for droughts (and floods). Eventually, California will have a multi-year drought worse than any we have ever seen.”
