Monday January 20, 2025
ABC 10 —
January is typically one of the wettest months of the year for California, which has defined periods of wet and dry weather. The dry season runs from roughly May through October, with the wet season covering the other months November through April.
Northern California records dramatically different rain and snowfall compared to Southern California. This is in part why the state and federal government built a water conveyance system to store rain and snowmelt in the northern part of the state to then help supply the southern part of the state with water during the dry season.
Perhaps adding to the complexity of water in California and the network of delivery, is a water year that doesn’t follow the calendar. The state’s water year starts October 1 of one year and runs through September 30 the following year.
Building a water year requires careful monitoring of not just a weekly, monthly or yearly cycle, but a year-to-year cycle of water storage and potential allocations.