El Niño and California Soil
What Growers Should Do Before, During, and After the Storm
A practical guide for farmers, ranch owners, and hobby growers
California's 2026–27 winter may bring a strong El Niño pattern, which often means heavier rain. No one can say exactly how much rain your property will get. But it's a good time to check how your soil and land handle water.
BEFORE THE STORM: PREPARE AND PROTECT
In Southern California zones like Riverside and San Diego County, our long, dry summers bake our clay and decomposed granite soils into a concrete-like crust. When the first heavy El Niño rains hit this hard pan, the water won't soak in, it will flash-flood across your property. Walk your groves now while it's dry to spot the natural gullies before they turn into washouts.
1. Check your drainage
Look at field edges, rows, low spots, roads, ditches, culverts, slopes, and areas near buildings. If water always pools in the same spot, adding more soil won't fix it, the real issue may be grading or drainage
3. Look for compacted soil
To test your compaction depth, take a simple T-handle soil probe or a long screwdriver and push it into the dry ground. If you hit a hard stop at 3 to 6 inches, your soil is severely compacted from foot or vehicle traffic. In these areas, water will pool and drown young roots. You'll need to gently fracture that layer or use a targeted organic soil conditioner to break open the pore spaces before the heavy rains arrive.
5. Protect young plants
Newly planted trees and plants need extra care. Make sure they're firmly rooted and that water won't pool around their base.
2. Watch for bare soil
Pay special attention to old avocado groves, sloped citrus rows, and heavily trafficked access roads where heavy equipment turned around all summer. If you have bare soil on a slope, do not leave it exposed to El Niño. Apply a thick layer of coarse wood-chip mulch or seed a fast-growing, low-water cover crop immediately to anchor the topsoil.
4. Inspect your mulch and soil
Make sure mulch isn't piled too deep or touching tree trunks. Check whether soil has eroded or settled around plant roots. Don't add material just because rain is coming, figure out what the soil needs first.
6. Check roads and slopes
Rural roads and slopes are common trouble spots. Look for ruts, loose soil, erosion channels, exposed roots, and unstable edges. Fix what you can before the rain hits.
DURING THE STORM: WATCH AND DON'T MAKE IT WORSE
Once the storm starts, your property shows you exactly how water moves. If it's safe, watch and take notes, but never risk your safety to check flooding or unstable ground.
- Watch for erosion. Look for sediment piling up, small channels forming, mulch washing away, or water cutting across roads.
- Stay off wet soil. Driving equipment on saturated ground compacts it further and creates ruts, making future storms worse.
- Don't fix erosion mid-storm. Moving soil while water is actively flowing usually doesn't help and can make things worse. Focus on safety first; fix it later.
- After the Storm: Inspect, Document, and Fix
ACTION: The storm isn't the end it's useful information. Once it's safe, walk the same areas you checked earlier and compare.
- Look for erosion: Check slopes, beds, roads, and anywhere water pooled. Small channels can grow into big problems if ignored. Take note of where and how bad.
- Check plants and trees: Look for exposed roots or soil that washed away, and note anywhere soil piled up unexpectedly.
- Check for standing water: If it drains quickly, that's normal. If the same spot stays wet every time, look into drainage or compaction issues.
- Inspect roads: Check for ruts, washouts, loose shoulders, and new drainage paths. Document before repairing.
- Reassess before adding anything new: Figure out what was lost and why before adding soil or mulch. A soil test or expert opinion can help here.
FOR SMALL PROPERTIES AND HOBBY FARMS
You don't need hundreds of acres for this to matter. A backyard orchard, garden, or small hobby farm faces the same challenges, just at a smaller scale. Whether you have fruit trees, raised beds, a vineyard, or container gardens, the principle is the same:
Know your soil before trying to fix it.
Organic Matter Helps, But More Isn't Always Better
Organic matter can improve soil structure and water retention.
Soil Amendments Aren't Fertilizer
Fertilizer feeds plants. Soil amendments change the soil itself, its structure, drainage, or moisture retention. Not every soil needs an amendment. What works depends on your soil, what you're growing, and your goals. There's no one-size-fits-all fix.
Think About the Whole Property
Water doesn't stay in one spot, it moves across your land. A problem at the top of a hill can cause erosion at the bottom. A compacted road can reroute runoff. Look at the big picture: where does water come from, where does it go, and what changed after the last storm?
A Simple Routine Learned: Before, During, After
Before: Inspect and protect — drainage, soil, slopes, roads, and exposed ground.
During: Watch and avoid extra damage — don't drive on wet soil.
After: Inspect, document, and fix — then use what you learned to prepare for next time.
The Goal: Understand Your Land, Not Just Add More Soil
A wet winter can reveal problems that stay hidden in dry weather, and teach you a lot about how your land handles water. You don't need to wait for a storm to start. Walk your property, check your soil, and see what happens when the rain comes.
LGM Soil Amendments has made soil products since 1946 for growers, gardeners, and property owners. Have a question about your soil? Start by understanding what's happening on your land.