Water agency: Region’s supply for 2024 ample

The San Diego County Water Authority has the reliable water supplies to meet the region’s needs for 2024, it was announced Monday.

The water year began Sunday. Hydrologists use Oct. 1 to begin measuring the snow and rain that will help carry water users through dry summer months the following calendar year.

According to the water authority, El Niño conditions continue to strengthen and could bring above-average precipitation to Southern California this fall. In a recent El Niño forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is a greater than 95 percent chance that El Niño continues across the Northern Hemisphere through the winter into 2024. The chance of a “strong” El Niño is 71 percent.

“San Diego County continues to have the water necessary to support our $268 billion economy and quality of life for 3.3 million residents,” said Mel Katz, chair of the authority’s Board of Directors. “We are grateful for the reprieve from drought -- but we recognize that dry times will return, probably sooner than later. We are ready when they do.”

Despite the significant precipitation over the past year, a longer-term trends indicate a continued hotter, drier climate in the Southwest.

“Compared to recent years, the new water year begins with improved supply conditions at the Water Authority’s two imported water sources — the Colorado River and the Sierra Nevada,” a statement from the agency reads. “On the Colorado River, a good water year and conservation efforts raised storage levels, prompting the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to declare that California will not face supply restrictions through 2024.”

Locally, at the end of August, member agency local storage was up 137,400 acre-feet, or 80 percent, compared to the same time in 2022.

The water authority also had around 100,000 acre-feet available in emergency and carryover storage — emergency storage for up to six-months and carryover storage to minimize or avoid potential supply cutbacks during periods of drought or other supply shortage events, the statement from the agency read.