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
Download Adobe Reader for PDF files here
Drought Management
- 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
- NOAA's 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.