SAN DIEGO – As San Diegans catch their breath from relentless wet weather, yet another round of storms is on the way, which should continue to help put a dent in the county’s drought monitor after years of little to nothing. 

As cold weather keeps our eyes peeled to the sky, attention also shifts to local reservoirs, with tension slightly easing on California’s historic drought when comparing February of 2022 to 2023. The county is still under a moderate drought, but according to the National Weather Service, this is currently being reevaluated. 

“Locally it’s good news, that all of the backcountry reservoirs are getting additional water which means we won’t have to rely so much on Northern California and the Colorado River,” Chris Robbins explained with the Vallecitos Water District.

Reservoirs and snowpack here in the San Diego area are on the rise with water levels at Lake Cuyamaca at 200% above average, but capacity only stands at 25% due to years of little to nothing.

Lake Miramar is currently near 78% capacity, with sitting water levels right in line with the 30-year average. While the rain has helped, more is needed, and luckily, we’ve got plenty in store in the coming days. 

San Diego gets nearly 10% of its water locally and nearly 60% from the Colorado River which is running dry. However, on a more local level, the wave of recent weather brought nearly 30 inches of snowfall in Mount Laguna and Palomar Mountain along with several feet in the Sierra Nevada with snowpack at over 180% above average according to Robbins.

At this time last year, portions of the state were under an extreme drought, one of the highest drought levels. Today, that’s no longer the case. 

There’s more to come, a weak atmospheric river could bring over a foot of snow and heavy rain, but with it comes damage.

Crews are preparing to weather the next round of storms bringing a major closure along Texas St. into Mission Valley until Tuesday for storm drain construction. It’s all an effort to prevent further flooding down the road.

“Any backup along any system is going to cause issues behind that of course. Up the hill it could cause flooding off to the side, and I know we have homes and businesses off to the side of the hill here that could be impacted,” Jose Ysea with the City of San Diego shared.