CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Storm ‘Helpful,’ but Drought Continues

Last weekend’s storm did not end the drought, water officials warned state legislators. “We apparently face the fourth dry year in a row,” said Water Resources Director David Kennedy. “That storm was helpful, but we need eight or 10 of them in a year. On the whole, we are well below average.” Kennedy said cumulative rainfall statewide is about 70% of normal, and the Sierra snowpack is about 60% of normal. However, ground dried over the last three years is absorbing much of the water that might normally flow into reservoirs, he said.