California drought

Share of state area in drought (D1-D4) or worse, week over week

Data through Aug 11, 2026 · source last checked Aug 13, 2026 · page revised Aug 13, 2026

Cite

California: 7% of area in drought (D1-D4) or worse as of Aug 11, 2026 (US Drought Monitor). The Waterline. https://the-waterline.com/drought/california

Embed chart

<a href="https://the-waterline.com/drought/california?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=chart">
  <img src="https://the-waterline.com/charts/drought/california/chart.png" alt="California drought — Aug 11, 2026" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto;border:0"/>
</a>
<p style="font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0">Source: <a href="https://the-waterline.com/drought/california?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=credit">The Waterline</a> · updates automatically</p>
<p style="font-size:11px;color:#6b6b6b;margin:2px 0 0">About this data: US Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, NOAA) · Share of area in moderate drought (D1) or worse · California · % · Conditions as of the prior Tuesday · through Aug 11, 2026</p>

Free to republish with attribution. The chart updates automatically as new data lands.

About this data

Source: US Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, NOAA)
Series: Share of area in moderate drought (D1) or worse
Geography: California
Unit: %
Calculation: Conditions as of the prior Tuesday
Last observation: Aug 11, 2026
Update frequency: Weekly, released Thursdays

Drought held steady week over week (now 7%).

California held at 7% of its area in moderate drought or worse, unchanged on the week. Coverage worsened one point month over month but fell 33 points year over year, 33 points below the 5-year median of 40%.

The numbers
Period	Current	Prior	Change
Week over week	7%	7%	+0 pts
Month over month	7%	6%	+1 pts
Year over year	7%	40%	-33 pts
vs 5-yr median	7%	40%	-33 pts

Get the weekly water brief