After weeks of intense rain and flooding, most of California’s reservoirs are holding more water than usual for this time of year, but groundwater is still not replenished
Environment
20 January 2023
The Nicasio Reservoir in California at 100 per cent capacity after a series of atmospheric river events in January 2023 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
California finally has a dry forecast after three weeks of intense rain brought flooding and disaster declarations across much of the state. All that water is the result of nine “atmospheric rivers” – warm, water-heavy air drawn up from the tropics – and has taken the edge off a historic drought. But California is still grappling with how to manage the increasingly volatile swings between wet and dry years predicted under climate change. …