CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : CALIFORNIA : Runoff Signals 4th Year of Drought

California’s rainfall is only 60% of normal for this time of year, a state official says, leaving the central part of the state in a drought for a fourth straight season. Stream runoff on the central and southern coast is only 10% to 13% of normal for mid-December, almost six months into the rain season, said Suzanne Butterfield, deputy chief and drought response coordinator for the state Department of Water Resources. “From San Jose to the Mexican border is the urban area hardest hit by the continuing drought,” Butterfield said during an agribusiness management conference in Fresno. On average, water in the state’s reservoirs is at 75% of normal for this time of year, but some reservoirs along the coast are “bone dry,” Butterfield said.