San Luis Obispo County sees significant improvement in drought

January 20, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

For more than 20 days, a series of storms unleashed torrential rains on San Luis Obispo County. These storms significantly improved SLO County’s drought status.

Before the series of 12 storms, SLO County was in moderate to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Despite the heavy rains, experts continue to consider most of California still in drought. As of Jan. 19, the bulk of SLO County is deemed dry to moderate drought with a sliver near the Kern County border in severe drought.

“While precipitation over much of the state was over 300% of normal over the previous two weeks, deficits have been years in the making,” according to the drought monitor. “While this last round of rain has helped return smaller reservoirs to the historical averages, many of the larger reservoirs still remain below the historical average for this time of year.”

Nevertheless, California’s snowpack is 250% of normal for this time of year. As the snow melts in the spring, it will flow into rivers that feed the state’s larger reservoirs.

Current SLO County and major state reservoir levels:

• Santa Margarita Lake at 102.9%, SLO County
• Lake Nacimiento at 87%, SLO County
• Lopez Lake at 52%, SLO County
• Whale Rock Reservoir at 88.04%, SLO County
• Cachuma Lake at 95%, Santa Barbara County
• Oroville Dam 60%, Butte County
• Trinity Lake at 30%, Trinity County
• Don Pedro Reservoir at 76%, Mariposa County
• Shasta Dam at 54%, Shasta County
• San Luis Reservoir at 49%, Merced County