California facing another drought and worse wildfires after unseasonably dry wet season, officials warn

Snowfall in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains was 40 per cent below average this year

California is facing another drought after a lack of rainfall in March failed to replenish the state's sources of water.

The state is still recovering after a bought of drought conditions between 2012 and 2017, and may be facing down another season of extremely dry weather.

During its last drought, wells ran dry, farms had to halt production, endangered salmon populations were threatened, and the extremely dry conditions provided ample fuel for raging wildfires.

State officials issued an announcement on Thursday - the unofficial end of California's wet season - that expected snow accumulation in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains was 40 per cent below average levels.

When the mountain snows melt, they replenish the state's water sources, like the Colorado River, which supplies much of Southern California with its water.

Read more

• Entire flight deplaned over ‘maskless toddler’
• Secret Service daughter goes viral on TikTok by sharing tips her father gives her
• Trump caught with secret bottle of Coke after insisting he was boycotting brand over Georgia voting rights
• Huge chunk of SpaceX rocket falls on Washington farm

According to the US Drought Monitor, 90 per cent of California is already experiencing drought conditions, and the rest of the American west has been suffering from a "megadrought" since 1999.

Under the last drought, Governor Jerry Brown ordered residents of the state to reduce their water consumption by 25 per cent. Residents had to compensate for the reduction by shortening their showers, replacing their lawns with artificial grass or native desert plants, and forgoing things like car washes. Some reported they had to reduce the number of times they flushed their toilets.

Caitrin Chappelle of the Public Policy Institute of California. The Metropolitan Water District, told ABC News that such measures would not likely be necessary this time around because water use by California residents has not returned to pre-drought levels, and the state is somewhat better prepared to deal with the situation.

However, the regulatory agencies have already made cuts to water allocation for farms and cities, suggesting there will be some adaptation necessary if drought conditions continue.

The Federal Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water distribution to farms in California's Central Valley, said agricultural customers to the south of the state's delta - which feeds into San Francisco bay - will not be receiving any water in 2021.

Some regions, like Marin County, have already asked residents to voluntarily scale back their water usage.

“Guys are in a really tough spot when they don’t know what water’s going to be available until the planting season, which is now,” Danny Merkley of the California Farm Bureau Federation, told ABC News.

In addition to hardships for farms and residents of the state, dry drought conditions also result in more destructive wildfires.

Higher temperatures and lower moisture rates brought on by drought result in drier flora, which provides fires with greater fuel to burn.

San Jose State University's Fire Weather Research Laboratory issued a warning on Monday saying the outlook for this year's wildfire season was "grim," citing the worsening drought conditions.

"The fact that [moisture rates in plants] are not reaching what they typically reach in April, which is their highest moisture content when the plants really start blooming and growing, is indicative of something that can be really drastic this summer," SJSU Professor Craig Clements told NBC News.