January rains have brought welcome relief to South Coast farms and gardens, but not to Lake Cachuma, the reservoir that normally provides most of the region’s water supply.
After five years of severe drought, the stream runoff into Cachuma this month to date totals about a year’s supply for 15,000 people, out of a South Coast population of 207,000. Currently at only nine percent of capacity, Cachuma places dead last among the 23 reservoirs on the state’s daily water storage list. Because of the recent extreme wet weather in Northern California, most reservoirs are showing higher-than-average levels for this time of year.
In addition to runoff, there is imported state aqueduct water flowing into Cachuma. But the minimal rain runoff into the lake means the South Coast remains stuck, for now, in the dark brown blob on national weather maps that stands for “exceptional drought.” The classification also includes much of Ventura County and parts of Kern and Los Angeles counties, covering about two percent of California. Just two weeks ago, 18 percent of the state was in exceptional drought.