Despite Early Reads for Weak Snowpack, Experts Optimistic About Drought

Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range is less than average for this time of year, however recent storms suggest an increase by late January, the Department of Water Resources announced this week.

Water officials said experts surveying the snowpack took manual measurements early Tuesday morning at the Phillips Station at 6,000 feet near Lake Tahoe and found that water content measured around 53 percent of normal.

Despite a dismal beginning, the series of storms forecasted is expected to bolster the snowpack, according to a spokesman for the California Cooperative Snow Surveys program.

"I can see us being potentially at average once that series of storms moves through." Program Chief Frank Gehrke said in a statement.

According to water officials, about two-thirds California's annual rainfall occurs between December and March. Total precipitation has been above average, but warm temperatures during storms have kept precipitation as rain instead of snow.

State Climatologist Mike Anderson said in a statement, "We still have three historically wet months ahead of us so there's still time for the snowpack to build and improve before it begins to melt, which usually starts
to happen around April 1."

Water officials said on average, the snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California's water needs as it melts. California has experienced five consecutive years of drought, with Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. declaring a drought state of emergency on Jan. 17, 2014, according to water officials.

"Precipitation and storage are doing quite well compared to the past five years of historic drought conditions and that makes us cautiously optimistic about water conditions, although some areas in California are still hit hard by the drought and require a response," acting DWR Director Bill Coryle said in a statement.

Californians can learn ways to save water every day by visiting www.SaveOurWater.com.

— By Bay City News Service

IMAGE: From left, John Paasch (California Department of Water Resources, Chief of Flood Operations), and Frank Gehrke (California Department of Water Resources, Chief of Snow Surveys) conduct a manual snow survey on January 3, 2017 at Phillips Station, Calif., just off Highway 50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe Road approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento. Photo by Dale Kolke / California Department of Water Resources.