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A week’s worth of heavy snow in the mountains has relieved pressure on local water agencies, but statewide reserves remain below adequate, officials said.
Since Feb. 5, storm clouds have dumped 8 feet of fresh snow at high points of the Sierra Nevada, bringing precipitation for the Donner Summit area to “just about average” for this time of year, according to Randall Osterhuber, snow hydrologist for UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, based in Soda Springs.
Officials from Nevada Irrigation District were relieved with the snowfall after sweating through a very dry January.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Don Wight, operations manager for NID.
“With the recent storms I think we’ll be able to make 100 percent of our water deliveries this year,” said Division 2 Director John Drew.
Statewide, water content found in the snow pack is lagging at about 71 percent of normal.
“Sierra-wide we’ve made a little progress. We’re still not where we need to be,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of the state’s cooperative snow survey program.
In January, the state Department of Water Resources reported a snow water content at 61 percent of normal statewide.
While February storms were beneficial and help prevent state water stores from falling further behind, they were not enough to make up a cumulative deficit, Gehrke said.
State reservoirs used to store water for fish, farming and municipal use is drawn down 65 percent of average, he said.
“It would take a much bigger than average year (to make up the loss) and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Basically, it would have to be a deluge in March,” Gehrke said.
Water officials remain concerned that Californians will face a third dry year if precipitation needed to fill woefully low reservoirs doesn’t fall during the next five to six weeks.
“Last year we had a good February as well, then it just shut off,” Gehrke said.
Already agencies overseeing fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and agricultural groups that depend on water supplies to feed the Central Valley Project have been alerted that water is in short supply this year.
NID’s January snow survey showed the water district’s 10 reservoirs were filled to 57 percent of capacity, or about 87 percent of average. Another NID survey is expected early next month.
Researchers from the summit snow lab will cross country ski for a final time to measurement sites for an April 1 survey, the most telling of the season for predicting summer water stores, Osterhuber said.
The state will give a forecast for the summer’s “year type” on May 1, a prediction that will dictate deliveries to much of the more heavily populated parts of the state south of Sacramento.
To contact staff writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call
477-4231.
Since Feb. 5, storm clouds have dumped 8 feet of fresh snow at high points of the Sierra Nevada, bringing precipitation for the Donner Summit area to “just about average” for this time of year, according to Randall Osterhuber, snow hydrologist for UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, based in Soda Springs.
Officials from Nevada Irrigation District were relieved with the snowfall after sweating through a very dry January.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Don Wight, operations manager for NID.
“With the recent storms I think we’ll be able to make 100 percent of our water deliveries this year,” said Division 2 Director John Drew.
Statewide, water content found in the snow pack is lagging at about 71 percent of normal.
“Sierra-wide we’ve made a little progress. We’re still not where we need to be,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of the state’s cooperative snow survey program.
In January, the state Department of Water Resources reported a snow water content at 61 percent of normal statewide.
While February storms were beneficial and help prevent state water stores from falling further behind, they were not enough to make up a cumulative deficit, Gehrke said.
State reservoirs used to store water for fish, farming and municipal use is drawn down 65 percent of average, he said.
“It would take a much bigger than average year (to make up the loss) and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Basically, it would have to be a deluge in March,” Gehrke said.
Water officials remain concerned that Californians will face a third dry year if precipitation needed to fill woefully low reservoirs doesn’t fall during the next five to six weeks.
“Last year we had a good February as well, then it just shut off,” Gehrke said.
Already agencies overseeing fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and agricultural groups that depend on water supplies to feed the Central Valley Project have been alerted that water is in short supply this year.
NID’s January snow survey showed the water district’s 10 reservoirs were filled to 57 percent of capacity, or about 87 percent of average. Another NID survey is expected early next month.
Researchers from the summit snow lab will cross country ski for a final time to measurement sites for an April 1 survey, the most telling of the season for predicting summer water stores, Osterhuber said.
The state will give a forecast for the summer’s “year type” on May 1, a prediction that will dictate deliveries to much of the more heavily populated parts of the state south of Sacramento.
To contact staff writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call
477-4231.
