SNOWPACK IN SIERRAS NOW ABOVE NORMAL –WITH EL NIÑO YET TO COME

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By Miriam Raftery

December 31, 2015 (Sacramento)—Yesterday the California Department of Water Resources held the first snow survey of the season in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After four years of drought, the snowpack is above normal and state officials are cautiously optimistic, though reservoir levels remain below normal.

The survey found snow depth of 54.7 inches – 16 inches more than the average since 1965.  The water content is 136 percent of average for this time of year at the station ( 90 miles east of Sacramento at an elevation of 6,800 feet).  In addition, electronic readings of 99 stations throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains found water content of the snowpack is 108 percent of average for the date over multiple decades.

While it’s still too soon to know if the coming months will bring an end to the drought, the start of the “water season” is looking promising.  The heavy snowfall so far this winter “has been a reasonable start, but another three or four months or surveys will indicate whether the snowpack’s runoff will be sufficient to replenish California’s reservoirs by this summer,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin.

In normal years, the snowpack provides about 30 percent of California’s water needs. The higher the snowpack water content, the greater the likelihood that reservoirs will receive ample runoff as the snowpack melts in spring and summer.

The water season runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 each year. This is the first of five snow surveys conducted annually.

Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, said more than four years of drought have left a water deficit around the state that may be hard to overcome in just one season.  But he adds, “Clearly this is much better than it was last year at this time, but we haven’t had the full effect of the El Niño yet.  If we believe the forecasts, then El Niño is supposed to kick in as we move through the rest of the winter. That will be critical when it comes to looking at reservoir storage.”

Reservoirs remain substantially below level, for now.  The state’s six largest reservoirs are currently between 22 and 53 percent of their historical averages for late December, so there’s  still a long way to go before the drought might be declared over.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought State of Emergency on January 17, 2015.  Then in April 1, when the statewide snowpack’s water content was at a historic low of just 5 percent of average for the date, the Governor ordered a 25 percent cut in water use statewide.  Californians have risen to the challenge, cutting water use 27.1% from June through October, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.

For tips on how you can conserve water, visit www.SAveOurWater.com.  For information on the state’s turf and toilet rebate program, see www.SaveOurWaterRebates.com.   To learn more about the drought and how California is addressing it, visit http://Drought.Ca.Gov.  


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