While California’s snowpack in March was in better condition than it was in February, the month’s precipitation was not enough to offset the state’s dry winter, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
A survey DWR officials conducted in the Sierra Nevada on Wednesday measured snow depth at 43.5 inches, with 16.5 inches of water contained in the snowpack.
The measurement is two-thirds of the April average at the Phillips Station survey site. Statewide snow level sensors also showed that the snowpack’s water level was down 53 percent from April averages.
“While today’s survey results show our snowpack is better off than it was just last month, they still underscore the need for widespread, wise use of our water supplies,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said. “California’s
climate continues to show extreme unpredictability, and February’s record dryness is a clear example of the extremes associated with climate change.”
The state’s snowpack supplies about 30 percent of the state’s water as it melts during the spring and summer months. The DWR also reported that the six largest water reservoirs are holding between 82 percent and 125
percent of their historical averages for April 1.
“Over the last decade, California’s snowpack has been alternating between extremely wet and extremely dry,” stated Sean de Guzman, chief of DWR’s Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecast Section. “In the past 10 years,
we’ve seen three of our smallest snowpacks on record, but we’ve also seen three of our largest snowpacks on record.”
8 comments
I wish they would report just what shape we are totally! Reservoirs, the ground water etc. Also we are getting 2 feet of snow this weekend. I have been waiting for the overall results.
I agree, but that turns a 1 hour writing assignment into the task of Sisyphus, collecting all of the relevant water stats from across the state and coelescing them into an overall measure. I would have liked a simple statistic of percentage of where we are relative to the average for snowpack.
It’s a game they play.We are being set up for rate increase.They don’t know how to be Honest and give the overall picture just how much water we have.Bits and pieces are all you will ever get.
Old Timer – Don’t forget water districts are non profit entities. Rates are based upon the cost of doing business. Also they are run by a Board of Directors elected by the public. Who did YOU vote for in the last election?
When I kept weather records at work (15 years ago) , February and March typically showed rain averages as the heaviest of the season. The rain events this season hardly qualify as storms. I think the robust storms of decades past are gone forever.
The state water folk track something called the Northern Sierra 8 Station Index, which gives you a sense for how the water year is going. Updated daily.
Not looking good.
Website: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=PLOT_ESI.pdf
Short-term concerns don’t hide the fact that Sacramento is not planning new storage. Helms Project could be duplicated in five or six locations to everyone’s benefit, but Sacramento ignores the facts. Volatile supply, droughts more common, unlimited immigration, thirsty SoCal, rates jumping due to restricted supply, and no new storage. The “storage” in the last bond is minuscule. Plenty of snow falls on average to greatly increase storage, but ask yourself why they oppose it?
How many droughts have we lived through? And how many new reservoirs has the state built?
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