When it rains, it pours, and that’s a good thing when it comes to water supply levels in California, especially in Southern California. Statewide, reservoir storage is now about 114% of the historical average, marking a significant improvement in water availability. … The improved storage arrives just as drought conditions across California continue to diminish. A newly released drought map shows more than 70% of the state is now free from any drought designation. That’s a dramatic shift from August, when nearly three-quarters of the state was experiencing drought – including a small area categorized in the most severe level.

Other water supply and drought news:

• SFGate: Atmospheric rivers nearly wipe out severe drought in California
• The Sacramento Bee (Calif.): How much snow has fallen in Sierra Nevada so far? See latest Tahoe storm totals
• ABC3 (Bakersfield, Calif.): Recent rain totals brought close to 90% of the county out of a drought warning
• KOLO (Reno, Nev.): Truckee River water levels rise above normal after recent rain
• NIDIS: News release: Water year recap for the intermountain West
• Fishing the North Coast With Kenny Priest: Blog: Another storm, another miss – North Coast still waiting on a real rise