Current Drought Conditions in California

The map from USGS's National Drought Watch Web site shows the 7-day average streamflow conditions in hydrologic units. Thus, the map shows conditions adjusted for this time of the year. The colors represent 7-day average streamflow percentiles for the day of the year. USGS sites having at least 30 years of record are used. The data used to produce this map are provisional and have not been reviewed or edited. They may be subject to significant change.

More detailed information on drought in California is available for:
Surface water | Ground water | Climatic

Drought Analyses

• Trends in streamflows that are important in the analysis of drought
• USGS fact sheet on Drought : HTML • PDF
• Drought and climate • evapotranspiration • fires

Drought Management

• Management of water resources for drought conditions
• Management alternatives for a hypothetical severe drought on the Colorado River
• Drought and ranching in Arizona
• Statement by Robert Hirsch, USGS Associate Director for Water, delivered at the 2002 Drought Summit

Drought Links

• Precipitation required to end or ameliorate the current drought and the probabilities of that occurring
• Climate Prediction Center climate outlook maps
• U.S. Drought Monitor map and summary
• NOAA's Drought Information Center
• NRCS weekly drought reports, SNOTEL data, year-to-date water-equivalent, and precipitation graphs by basin
• National Weather Service

 A postscript (EPS) file of this map is available.