From San Bernardino County: After years of drought, record rainfall up North is filling up reservoirs like Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s primary storage location.
“The precipitation that re-fills our underground storage basins is actually below average, so far,” said Bob Tincher, manager of water resources for San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.
“So if it were to stop raining today, even with the wet year in Northern California, our groundwater storage levels could actually decrease again this year,” Tincher said the Inland Empire needs the equivalent of three consecutive above average precipitation years to refill local groundwater basins.
“The images we’re seeing in the news of Northern California reservoirs being filled to the brim are certainly creating the impression that the drought is over, but our local groundwater basins, which get us through droughts, continue to be at historically low levels.” Much of the water that refills our largest groundwater basin comes from the watersheds of Lytle Creek, the Santa Ana River and Mill Creek, all of which have essentially had below average rainfall for 16 of the last 18 years.
Dramatic savings can be had with just a few changes, such as eliminating the grass you do nothing but mow, and adjusting your sprinklers throughout the year to avoid runoff on your street, driveway and sidewalks.
“As your wholesale water agency, Valley District will be asking the people we serve by importing water from Northern California to continue conserving water and eliminating water waste both inside and outside your home.”.
Your water provider can help.
Valley District also offers $1 per square foot for turf removal that is presently available through their retail water provider.
Information on rebates, conservation tips and other resources are available at iEfficient.com.
Taking steps today to become efficient ensures a safe, high-quality water supply for the future.

Somalis Hold Special Prayers for Rain as Severe Drought Continues.
Thousands of Somalis gathered in the capital of Mogadishu to offer prayers to God Thursday to send down rains and end the country’s three-year drought, which has pushed it to the brink of famine.
Video Pleasure usapost.org In attendance were a large number of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre, senior government officials, several Muslim clerics, and the student community, Shabellenews reports.
The gathering, which was held at the Isbaheysiga Mosque, was also attended by citizens.
The Muslim clerics who led prayers called on Allah to send down rain on the Somali people affected by the drought while urging the public to turn to God, “repent,” and offer more prayers.
Poor rainfalls in the last three consecutive years in Somalia and much of the area around the Horn of Africa has led to a drastic drop of water levels in rivers, streams, and other bodies of water.
Meteorologists say the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has affected much of east and southern Africa, is partly responsible for Somalia’s current drought.
Somalia is one of four nations the UN considers to be at risk of extreme hunger and famine — along with Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.
The authorities have already declared a famine in South Sudan.
The BBC reports that in addition to the lack of food caused by the drought, cases of dehydration are widespread and deaths have been reported due to cholera, which is often spread due to lack of clean drinking water.

Metro Atlanta Remains In ‘Unusual’ Drought.
But not in metro Atlanta, most of which remains in a "Level 2" drought response.
Gainesville has gotten more than 20 inches less rain in the past year than a normal year.
The warm winter means more water has evaporated from the lake and from the soil and plants, said Bill Murphey, state climatologist and head meteorologist for Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division.
It’s not unusual to see lake levels get drawn down during the year, Harvey said, but around this time of year should be a wet season, when the lake refills.
That’s troubling, said Katherine Zitsch, natural resources manager at the Atlanta Regional Commission, because even during droughts the lake usually refills at least a bit.
“Sometimes it’s 10 feet in one winter, sometimes it’s 5 feet in one winter.
“This drought there is no upward trend.” Zitsch said this drought has taken the worst aspects of two previous droughts and combined them.
“The ’07 drought it was very dry in September-October-November, and this drought repeated that.
But what’s upstream of the reservoir is a very small watershed.” So Lake Lanier is like a huge tub that’s filled by a relatively small faucet, which, over the past year, has been turned down to just a trickle.

Boris Johnson in Somalia for Surprise Visit Amid Drought.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has arrived for a surprise visit to Somalia and is holding talks with the country’s new president, a Somali presidential aide confirmed Wednesday.
The aide insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The British foreign office did not immediately comment.
Britain is appealing for aid for Somalia’s drought, which has been declared a national disaster amid warnings of a full-blown famine.
After his own recent visit to Somalia, U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said 2.9 million people in Somalia are at risk of famine and require immediate help "to save or sustain their lives."
He has warned that close to 1 million children under the age of five will be "acutely malnourished" this year.
But now the U.N.’s humanitarian partners have a larger footprint, better controls on resources and a stronger partnership with the new government, he said.
"To be clear, we can avert a famine," O’Brien has said.
"But we need those huge funds now."

The land here dried up not long after he arrived, leaving his animals weak from hunger and thirst.
His goats drank water from a plastic barrel and picked dry leaves from plants nearby.
“I don’t even think these remaining ones will survive in the next two months,” Haji said.
He left his wife and five children behind on his eight-day trek, fearing they wouldn’t survive.
It is not clear how many people, or animals, have died so far.
The United Nations says more than half the population is engaged in the livestock industry.
With their livestock gone, herders are ending up in camps with shortages of food, medicine and safe drinking water.
There was no transport or water.
“They are just still alive but cannot benefit us at all.” With the rise of disease-related deaths among the remaining animals, the United Nations is planning a major animal vaccination intervention.
“Hungry animals, starving animals are very vulnerable, very prone to disease,” Trenchard said.

Chicagoland digs out as snow drought comes to an end.
CHICAGO – A late winter blast of snow had Chicago area residents dusting off their shovels Monday.
The snow snarled the morning commute for many but the area’s snow drought has ended.
The 83-day period from December 19th through March 11th produced a paltry 0.7” of snow in Chicago.
Then the drought came to an end in just three days, with 11 times that amount: 7.7” falling at O’Hare Airport and 9.3” at Midway Airport.
The tallies are more than the 5.6” a full March typically produces.
The snowfall is over for most of the Chicago area, and sunshine returns Wednesday with the exception of Porter County in Indiana, where bursts of lake effect snow is likely to linger through midday.
Totals in excess of a foot were common from Waukegan to Mundelein.
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California’s desert blooms as drought comes to an end.
LAKE ELSINORE, California (Reuters) – Southern California’s deserts and hillsides are ablaze with color after a wet winter spurred what scientists say is the biggest wildflower bloom in years.
Golden California poppies, the state’s flower, blanket hillsides along busy high-desert roads and freeways around Lake Elsinore in Riverside County.
At Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County, the desert blooms with purple Canterbury Bells, red Monkey Flower, white Desert Lily and more poppies.
"Plentiful rains in December, January and February have encouraged the development of a spectacular showing of annual plants in the flower fields north of town, along trails in western canyons, and even in the badlands," naturalists wrote on Anza-Borrego’s website.
Before the state’s devastating five-year drought, Southern California families often made an annual trek to see wildflowers at Anza-Borrego and other destinations – some as close as a freeway exit in the high desert.
Now that storms have replenished dry desert land, the tradition has returned in force.
So many people are visiting Anza-Borrego, the state’s largest park, that officials on Tuesday warned of traffic jams and urged flower-lovers to bring plenty of water to avoid dehydration in the hot, dry weather expected this week.
Children played and dogs romped through the high stands of poppies as traffic whizzed by on the freeway below.
(Reporting by Alan Devall in Lake Elsinore, California and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Writing by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Dan Grebler)

“It looks like we could be returning to a wet period around the middle of next week,” said John Lindsey, meteorologist for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. at Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
Lindsey said the “long-range numerical models continue to indicate a wet weather pattern developing” Tuesday and continuing for as long as a week.
At this point, runoff into the lake has slowed, with the soil starting to soak up water in the creeks and Gibraltar Reservoir finally dropping a couple of inches below the spillway level to 99.8 percent of its 5,272-acre-foot capacity.
“But I can tell the level has come up just since I was here a couple of days ago.” Near the first of October 2016, Cachuma had fallen to just 7.3 percent of its 193,305-acre-foot capacity at 14,177 acre-feet.
An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or enough to meet the average yearly water needs of about six people in most urban settings.
“If it wasn’t for the state water, I think the lake would have dried up three years ago,” Skytt said.
But once the rains started, the lake began to fill with increasing speed, rising to 13.6 percent of capacity by Feb. 6 and climbing to 18 percent in about a week, then jumping to 43.3 percent a week after that.
In fact, the level had risen high enough for boaters to use a launch ramp that has been high and dry for a couple of years.
Twitchell Reservoir northeast of Santa Maria is lagging the most among the county’s reservoirs, currently holding 70,351 acre-feet, or 36.1 percent of its 194,971-acre-foot capacity, although that represents an increase of 70,350 acre-feet for the water year.
Countywide, rainfall for the current water year was standing at 156 percent of the normal amount for March 13, according to figures from the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District.

One-third of Colorado under moderate drought conditions as officials wary of wildfires, flooding.
DENVER – More than one-third of Colorado is experiencing moderate drought conditions, and more than half the state is abnormally dry as we enter Flood Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week in Colorado.
A year ago, 86 percent of the state was experiencing no drought conditions.
The dry weather has led to more than a dozen fires across the Front Range in the past two months, and comes ahead of the normal fire and flood season.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that 65,000 homes and 15,000 commercial and business buildings sit within Colorado’s floodplains.
In 2013, heavy rain along the Front Range combined with rain in northeastern Colorado led to heavy and devastating flash flooding along the Front Range from Greeley south, resulting in millions of dollars in damage.
All week, the National Weather Service and Colorado agencies are working to heighten awareness for fires and flooding across the state with Flood Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week.
Preparedness is key to staying safe!
#beready #cowx pic.twitter.com/8bxo2bL2F0 — NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) March 13, 2017 ——— Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
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(By Jonathan Lloyd / NBC LOS ANGELES) — Conditions have improved in a small swath of Southern California that was one of the last areas of severe drought still standing after a wet winter.
Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties are no longer under severe drought, according to last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor report.
Recent rainfall improved the outlook for groundwater in the region, accounting for the improvement, the Monitor report said.
Only 1 percent of California, a small portion in the extreme southeast corner of Imperial County, remains in severe drought this month.
This season’s record rainfall has knocked out drought in 92 percent of California.
California is in the middle of one of its wettest winters in decades, but remains under a drought emergency.
What’s good for drought conditions has brought misery for some Californians.
READ: Horses evacuated from flooded San Jose ranch Gov.
Brown asked for federal assistance with the infrastructure damage from late January storms that caused flooding, mudslides and power outages.
Brown’s office said Tuesday the governor also declared a state of emergency for 53 of the state’s 58 counties due to late January storms.