October first also marks a new water year for California, and Department of Water Resources Public Information Officer, Maggie Macias, hopes it’ll be better than the most recent one…

click to listen to Maggie Macias

But the Department says most reservoirs around the state are still storing near-or-above-average levels, heading into the 2019 water year. Meanwhile, Macias says California is experiencing more extreme variability in seasonal precipitation. She says the recent record-breaking drought, in 2016, was followed by the second-wettest year on record, in 2017, followed by the below-average year for 2018….

click to listen to Maggie Macias

An atomspheric river event in April brought new records for precipitation, most of which fell as rain and not snow. The April first snowpack, statewide, was just 58-percent of average, a dramatic drop from 159-percent in 2017. The Department says the 2018 water year is indicative of California’s ongoing transition to a warmer climate.