California Water Watch: A New Tool Helping Californians Cope With the Drought

California Water Watch: A New Tool Helping Californians Cope With the Drought

California Water Watch is a new tool released by the Department of Water Resources that lets Californians look up their local water conditions.

California Water Watch is a new site created by the California Department of Water Resources. The site compiles data from multiple sources in a way that allows users to view hydrological conditions across the state using a zip code or in user-defined boundaries.

The state created the maps to give everyone a place to research and stay informed about California’s water resources as the megadrought that has gripped the state for years worsens. According to the site, “Drought conditions are not experienced uniformly across California. Water users experience drought differently, depending on the type of water supply being accessed and the user’s ability to manage drought impacts.”

A series of maps that show current statewide conditions and include precipitation, temperature, reservoir storage, groundwater conditions, snowpack, streamflow, soil moisture and vegetation stress (based on a lack of water). There are also maps that help people understand the drought. Three maps - weather, runoff and water supply drought indicators - together, provide a snapshot of the current severity of the drought.

The site draws no conclusions about the data presented, instead allowing users to draw their own conclusions about the drought, its severity and its impacts to the state’s residents, its agricultural arena and its ecological systems.

[CBS Sacramento]