Bay Area Rain Totals: Will It be Enough To End The Drought?

BAY AREA, CA — The most recent round of April showers doused the San Francisco Bay Area, but the rinse won't do much to alleviate the drought situation in the region.

The Bay Area received 0.2 to 0.75 inches of rain, with higher totals in the hills last Thursday and Friday, the National Weather Service reported. The highest amounts were reported in the Santa Cruz Mountains and along the Big Sur Coast at 1.5 inches, weather officials said.

The late season storm also brought "impressive" snow to the Sierra with the Sierra Snow Lab receiving 31.1 inches of snow, weather officials said. On Thursday, the storm dumped snow with totals comparable to mid-winter months.

In Tahoe, ski resorts rejoiced in the storm, with Kirkwood Meadows receiving 24 inches of rain, bringing its snow depth between 48 and 72 inches. Heavenly Valley also got 10 inches, bringing its depth to between 18 and 66 inches, according to the South Lake Tahoe Snow Report.

The storms brought much needed precipitation to the area, but the state would need "strong atmospheric rivers coming in to bring and make up the amount of rainfall we’ve lost" to change the course of the state’s drought, Drew Peterson, a Bay Area meteorologist for the National Weather Service told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Peterson said April's showers "are not going to really do anything to help the drought unfold. Unfortunately, it's too little, too late."

Kirkwood Resort remains open while Heavenly will be closed until Dec. 10.

Here's how much rain fell across Northern California last week:

• Santa Rosa - 0.5 to 1 inches
• Napa - 0.2 to 0.5 inches
• San Francisco - 0.2 to 0.5 inches
• Concord - 0.5 to 1 inches
• Livermore - 0.2 to 0.5 inches
• Santa Cruz - 0.5 to 1 inches
• San Jose - 0.1 to 0.2 inches
• Monterey - 0.1 to 0.2 inches
• Big Sur - 1 to 1.5 inches

The Bay Area saw zero rainfall for more than 50 days during January and February, which are typically the wettest two months.

And while April's rain storms helped bolster Bay Area rainfall totals, they won't be enough to stave off the state's third year of drought, and that means round of strict city-level restrictions.

As of Friday, the state had received 15.63 inches of rain, 75 percent of the historical average, according to California Water Watch.

San Francisco's watershed fared slightly better, with 16.2 inches for the year to date, 79 percent of the average for the full water year through Sept. 30.

But coastal regions of the Bay Area were still in a moderate drought, with some South Bay areas and the Big Sur area in severe drought conditions.

The National Weather Service Bay Area said Sunday the rainfall for the week ending April 19 resulted in Sonoma County being downgraded from extreme drought to severe drought but in most areas drought classifications were unchanged.

Despite the healthy dosage of snow to Northern California last week, it came after the state had three of the driest months on record. As of April 1 California's snowpack levels were well below average, and the prospect of more rain was slim.

During the state's annual April 1 Sierra Nevada snowpack survey, officials found that levels were just 38 percent of average.

This, coupled with Gov. Gavin Newsom's January emergency drought declaration, means another summer of water restrictions.

The state emergency regulations direct residents to:
-- Turn off decorative water fountains;
-- Turn off/pause irrigation system when it's raining and for two days after rain;
-- Use an automatic shutoff nozzle on water hoses;
-- Use a broom, not water, to clean sidewalks and driveways; and
-- Give trees just what they need: avoid overwatering.

Water users experience drought differently, depending on the type of water supply being accessed and the user's ability to manage drought impacts.

Last summer, from July 2021 to January 2022, California water customers cut their water use by just 6 percent, according to the city of Livermore, while many Bay Area cities set water reduction targets more than double that.

In December the City of San Jose declared a 15 percent water shortage and limited the use of sprinkler systems using potable water to two days per week. The restriction applies to all residents and businesses regardless of which water retailer serves them.

In the Santa Rosa watershed, the city reports that Lake Sonoma storage is at 59 percent of the target water supply, Lake Mendocino storage is 54.5 percent of the target water supply, and the city set a 20 percent water savings target in March.

Most homes use more than half of their water on outdoor landscaping, so residents are advised to transition their yards to drought-tolerant plants.

In the Tri-Valley, the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin plan to open a recycled water fill station on Gleason Drive in Dublin in June to provide water to use for irrigation.

Bay City News contributed to this report.