Colusa County was showered with rain and snow the first week of December, but whether that will change drought conditions remains to be seen.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, January through November 2022 was the driest year to date over the past 128 years.
Despite the weather showing some promise for a better water year, the Colusa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday certified the continuance of a local drought emergency.
Sheriff Joe Garafalo first proclaimed the drought emergency on June 16, 2021, and the Office of Emergency Services has asked for an extension every 60 days since.
“The drought conditions continue to cause wells to become dry, and the numbers reported are increasing at a rapid rate,” noted Colusa County Emergency Services Technician Janice Bell.
Bell, who retires from the Sheriff’s Office at the end of the year, will be sworn onto the Board of Supervisors in January.
Although last week’s storm will go a long way toward quenching parched lands and replenishing local streams, precipitation so far is considered typical for this time of year, water experts said.
The statewide snowpack, however, a critical measurement for water managers, was at 213 percent of normal, as of Tuesday, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
The statewide snowpack at this time last year was at 22 percent of normal.
But despite the rain, water experts said the state will need well-above normal rain and snowfall between now and April to make up for the water deficit from multiple years of drought.
Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed drought emergencies for 39 counties, including Colusa County, on May 20, 2021, after warmer than usual temperatures and extremely dry soils depleted runoff from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in a historic and unanticipated reduction of water for agriculture production and threatened water fresh water supply for communities, according to the resolution the Board of Supervisors adopted Tuesday.
County officials said the full extent and cost of damage from the drought is not able to be determined until the county and local municipalities complete more extensive analysis.
The county continues to enact water delivery to those who have experienced depleted residential wells. ■