Parts of Santa Barbara, Ventura counties remain in ‘Severe Drought’

California may be out of the ‘Extreme Drought’ thanks to the recent rain storms, but there are still parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura County still in ‘Severe Drought’.

The two counties, which have been the epicenter of drought in California in recent weeks, received much needed rainfall.

“Over 8 inches of rain was reported at two stations near Santa Barbara and over 6 inches at Ojai (6.97 inches) and Thousand Oaks (6.59 inches) in Ventura County,” according to the Drought Monitor report.

Take a look at the side-by-side map comparison below of just how much one wet year made a difference.

Water streams ran full which helped refill the depleted reservoirs in the area. Lake Cachuma rose 24 feet in just one day, according to the Drought Monitor report.

The Drought Monitor report added that as of February 22, Lake Cachuma was at 42.4% of capacity, Jameson Reservoir was at 52.5% capacity, Lake Casitas at 42.3%, and Lake Piru at 31.7%.

“Even though the reservoirs were responding quite favorably, they still have a long way to go before we can classify this area as drought-free,” said the report.