Finally, Severe Drought Gets the Boot From All of LA, Ventura, Santa Barbara Counties.
California’s History of Dry Spells in Photos California Department of Water Resources Conditions have improved in a small swath of Southern California that was one of the last areas of severe drought still standing during a wet winter for the record books.
Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties are no longer under severe drought, according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor report.
Recent rainfall improved the outlook for groundwater in the region, accouting 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 week.
This season’s record rainfall has knocked out drought in 92 percent of California.
In early March 2016, 97 percent of the state was in some type of drought.
California is in the middle of one of its wettest winters in decades, but remains under a drought emergency.
Gov.
Jerry Brown is expected to review the drought declaration sometime after the rain ends.