California’s second-largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, has reached 100% capacity for the second year in a row, even though state officials feared that it would never be full again, California Globe reported.
Though the Golden State has dealt with devastating drought in recent years, heavy rains in 2023 allowed the reservoirs to refill and even began to replenish depleted groundwater supplies. Now, officials report that Lake Oroville has enough water to get residents through another year even if 2025 turns out to be particularly dry.
“Lake Oroville reaching its maximum capacity didn’t always seem like a possibility for this year,” said State Water Project Operations Manager Molly White. “It wasn’t looking great at the beginning of the water year. It started out very warm and dry. Here we are, certainly Mother Nature turned the corner and provided a lot of good snowpack and run off into the lake that we have been able to fill.”
California has always dealt with droughts, but the overheating of our planet and changing weather patterns brought on by air pollution from dirty energy sources like gas and oil has made the problem worse, according to experts.
These changes to our climate have exacerbated existing conditions, causing storms and droughts to become more intense.
In response, the state has moved to change some of the rules around reservoirs, using advanced weather forecasting technology to allow the lakes to fill up more than they were previously allowed to whenever they have the opportunity.
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California is also on the forefront (among U.S. states) of moving away from the dirty energy sources that have caused the weather changes. The state ranked second in total renewable energy production, behind Texas, in 2022, although it still ranks far behind the leader for the highest percentage of renewable electricity generated, South Dakota.
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