Feds: Drought ends in San Joaquin.
Record Staff Writer @Alexbreitler After 1,892 days, the drought is over in San Joaquin County.
For San Joaquin, it is the first time since Dec. 27, 2011.
Portions of San Joaquin had still been considered "abnormally dry" heading into this week, but the U.S. Drought Monitor lifted that finding Thursday, citing an improvement in groundwater levels across the San Joaquin Valley.
Technically, the county and state remain under declared drought emergencies.
State officials have said they’ll review conditions in April, when the snowpack is usually at its peak and the water supply situation for the coming year is clearer.
Some, like the prohibition on hosing off streets or sidewalks, or using sprinklers within 48 hours of a storm, or allowing sprinkler water to escape from lawns, have been made permanent.
In a report published on Thursday, the Public Policy Institute of California says the state has over-tapped its groundwater by an average 2 million acre-feet per year over the past three decades, or an amount roughly equivalent to the state’s sixth-largest reservoir.
This ongoing water shortage is concentrated within the San Joaquin Valley, which faces "unprecedented challenges and inevitable change," the PPIC wrote.
— Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com.