Most SLO County spots are below seasonal rainfall averages. See where your area stands
San Luis Obispo County entered a La Niña weather pattern at the end of the summer, and it has since experienced a drier-than-usual rain season.
Data collected by the San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department show that most of the county has received between 14% and 26% of its average seasonal rainfall so far.
All of the reservoirs, however, are at least half full — courtesy of the past two wet winters.
The county has enough water to endure a dry year without concern, San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department water resources division manager Courtney Howard said.
But still, the county wants to make its water systems more efficient to prepare for a multi-year drought, she said.
“Knowing that we can go into multi-year droughts, we’ll need to make sure that everyone’s continuing their best practices with conservation and water-use efficiency,” she said.
SLO County rainfall totals low during La Niña year
Right now, the West Coast is experiencing a La Niña weather pattern, which occurs when colder-than-usual ocean surface temperatures push the storm track northward, dumping rain on the Pacific Northwest while leaving California’s Central Coast drier than usual, according to the National Weather Service.
As a result, the county received less rainfall than average this December, according to meteorologist John Lindsey.
Rocky Butte only received 71% of its usual rainfall in December, while the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport received 51% and the Paso Robles Municipal Airport got 57% of their typical December totals, Lindsey wrote in his most recent weather column.
Meanwhile, Northern California was “ahead of the game” in terms of seasonal rainfall totals thanks to La Niña, according to the National Weather Service.
Here’s a list of rainfall totals collected across the county since July 1, according to San Luis Obispo County Public Works Department data:
- Arroyo Grande Creek: 3.27 inches, 18% of average
- Atascadero: 2.48 inches, 14% of average
- Camp San Luis Obispo: 3.66 inches, 18% of average
- Creston: 1.82 inches, 15% of average
- Davis Peak near Montaña de Oro: 4.26 inches, 24% of average
- Hog Canyon: 1.91 inches, 12% of average
- Highway 46 at westbound Mile 7: 4.47 inches, 15% of average
- Lopez Dam: 5.12 inches, 26% of average
- Lopez Recreational Area: 4.66 inches, 21% of average
- Los Berros: 4.18 inches, 21% of average
- Los Osos Landfill: 3.45 inches, 19% of average
- Morro Toro on Highway 41: 5.36 inches, 19% of average
- Nipomo East: 3.8 inches, 21% of average
- Nipomo South: 2.86 inches, 20% of average
- Oceano: 3.84 inches, 24% of average
- Rocky Butte: 10.36 inches, 26% of average
- Salinas Dam: 2.97 inches, 14% of average
- San Simeon: 2.95 inches, 12% of average
- Santa Margarita: 3.26 inches, 14% of average
- Shandon: 1.66 inches, 14% of average
- San Luis Obispo Reservoir: 4.02 inches, 17% of average
- South Portal: 5.73 inches, 20% of average
- Templeton: 2.57 inches, 14% of average
- Upper Lopez: 4.69 inches, 21% of average
How is SLO County prepping for potential drought?
“We’re kind of interested to see how the water year turns out, and if it’s an indicator of multiple years holding with the La Niña, drier pattern,” she said.
Howard encouraged residents to make water-efficient choices.
Best practices include turning off the faucet while brushing teeth, taking shorter showers, installing water-efficient appliances in the home and swapping grass lawns for drought-tolerant landscaping, she said.
The county offers a Cash for Grass Program in the Nipomo Mesa Water Conservation Area and above the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin, which provides incentives to property owners who wish to remove their lawns.
Meanwhile, farmers can use the mobile irrigation lab run by the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District. The program will test the uniformity of a farmer’s irrigation system to inform where to make targeted repairs, she said.
Additionally, the county is looking at making its water system more resilient to extreme weather changes — especially as climate change causes swings between prolonged drought and severe flooding, she said.
Projects include studying the opportunities to “optimize the use” of existing water resources, Howard said.
For example, the county could offer some of its excess state water allocation to recharge the severely overdrafted Paso Robles Groundwater Basin, she said.
The county is also interested in acquiring new water sources, and it plans to examine the options for desalination early next year, she said.
