Record Rain Won't Banish Drought

A family visits Arizona's Roosevelt Dam and Bridge in February. Record rains took the reservoir from near empty to 80 percent full in a matter of months. Photo: Arizona Republic

Reservoirs are approaching full, but this year's precipitation is unlikely to change tight water rules in effect throughout the southwest, experts said in late February.

In drought-ravaged Southern California, the situation has improved greatly. All 27 of Los Angeles County's groundwater collecting basins are filled to capacity, the county's Department of Public Works said. Similarly, the Sierra Nevada snowpack - an important source of water for the region - is 40 percent above normal this season.

But the Colorado River reservoirs remain far below normal levels. About 70 percent of the water used in Southern California is imported from the river as well as from the California Aqueduct in Northern California and the Sierra Nevada, Denis Wolcott of the Metropolitan Water District told the Los Angeles Times.

Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are fed by the Colorado River, remain at only about 59 percent and 34 percent full, respectively, said Debra Man, chief operating officer of the Metropolitan Water District, which manages the distribution of water to a plethora of districts serving 18 million people in Southern California.

Parts of Arizona are doing better. By late February the state's Roosevelt Lake reservoir was close to 80 percent full-holding more water than it ever has before. (Just three years ago, the huge reservoir had almost dried up.)

The rising levels let Arizona's Salt River Project water authority end water rationing earlier this year. The agency is not ready to declare an end to the drought, spokesman Charlie Ester told the Arizona Republic.

The storms have encouraged conservation by reducing water demand for such activities as landscaping and washing cars. According to the Department of Water and Power, demand has been slashed by 25 percent because of the rainfall as people turn off their automatic sprinklers.

If Southern California requires less imported water this year, that might allow officials to begin building up reservoirs, including Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Arizona Republic