There were still weeks to go in the wet season and the reservoirs were full, thanks to last winter’s near record-breaking rain and snow.
“The outlook isn’t good,” said David Rizzardo, chief of snow surveys with the Department of Water Resources.
Sacramento has seen 7.8 inches of rainfall – 50 percent of average.
Jerry Brown declared an end to the five-year drought last April, but most climatologists and forecasters say drought-like conditions have returned.
“We’re in a ‘little D’ drought, or at the beginning of a ‘little D’ drought,” said Michelle Mead of the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
What’s preventing a “big D” drought – where dramatic conservation measures are ordered?
It’s partly the state’s reservoirs, most of which are at their historic averages because of last winter’s record rains.
Notably, Sacramento allows just one day a week of outdoor watering in winter.
Related stories from Sacramento Bee Sierra Nevada snow picture brightens, but is still just a fraction of normal Specter of drought looms as California’s weather turns dry again Why millions of dead trees in the Sierra may have helped save water during the drought Hanak said she expects some communities to impose other water-reducing measures and “do some belt-tightening” this summer.
“One real concern of climate change is just this constant back and forth on the extremes.