SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Even with heavy rain coming down this week, San Diego County remains in a drought, highlighting how much more is needed to replenish the region’s water resources.
In the past two days alone “we saw really anywhere from one to three inches of rainfall in the valleys, coastal areas, the hills outside of the mountains and then up in the mountains we saw a significant amount of snowfall,” according to Samantha Zuber, meteorologist with the National Weather Service San Diego.
Zuber is keeping tabs on rainfall totals, but this latest storm doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods.
“We are in what’s called D3 drought now that means that we are in extreme drought,” Zuber said. That’s just one level away from the worst drought.
“But D3 drought and extreme drought in San Diego County actually is pretty rare. The last time that we were in a D3 level was actually back in the fall of 2018,” Zuber added.
Just five months ago, the region wasn’t experiencing any drought. So far, the county has seen 3.8 inches of rain, which is about half of where we should be at this point in time, according to Zuber.
Carlos Quintero, General Manager at Sweetwater Authority, said water collected over the last few years ensures they continue to serve their 192,000 customers.
“We have enough to get us through next year early 2026, probably middle of 2026,” Quintero said.
Quintero said a lot of their water supply is local and recent rainfall helps sustain reservoir levels.
“We buy less imported water. Imported water is very expensive,” Quintero said.
San Diego County Water Authority rates are jumping by 5% in May because of increasing imported water rates.
So, the more it rains, and the more is collected locally, Quintero explained “that helps us keep the rates you know fairly low and keep our rate increases really to a minimum.”
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