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Snow survey: reason to party or reason for concern?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 28, 2008 at 11:57 pm

From the San Jose Mercury News:

We all know it’s been wet this winter. But has it been wet enough? As state snow surveyors measured the snowpack at a meadow along Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada today, the answer – for the first time this year – was yes. The snowfall season should end above-average – and that means Californians, warned to brace themselves after an exceptionally dry 2007, almost certainly won’t face water shortages this summer.

That’s right. No dirty cars. No brown lawns. And no saving the bath water. “Fears should be put to rest,” said snow surveyor Dave Hart of the state Department of Water Resources. “There’s no way you could say we’re in any kind of drought.”

Mostly because of three heavy storms that smothered the high country with snow in January and February, the Sierra snowpack is 118 percent of normal for this date, officials from the Department of Water Resources reported. By comparison, last year at this time the snowpack was 63 percent of normal.

“It’s a good positive sign for water supplies for the summer,” said Frank Gehrke, a hydrologist with the state Department of Water Resources, as he measured the density and water content of the snow at Phillips Station in El Dorado County near South Lake Tahoe.

More from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.

But wait, before you head out to fill up the swimming pool and fire up your decorative fountain, the San Francisco Chronicle’s article says not so fast:

The Sierra snowpack continues to exceed normal levels, meaning good news for skiers and the state’s water users, but state water officials say more above-average snowfall is needed this season to wipe out the state’s water-supply deficit.

A sampling of four Sierra monitoring stations Wednesday and today showed snow levels ranging between 110 and 138 percent of normal for this time of year, compared to a 74-85 percent subnormal range at the same time last year, according to the state Department of Water Resources. Estimated water content of the snowpack is at about 120 percent of normal, compared to 68 percent last year, said Elissa Lynn, a meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources. “That’s so much better than a year ago,” she said.

Today’s results are the latest in monthly snowpack surveys. The results for all of the Sierra’s 260 monitoring stations showed the snowpack water-content at 131 percent of normal for end of January, Lynn said. But even with the extra snow, the state’s reservoirs are not expected to fill up this year because of the shortages last year, when the water content of the peak snowpack on April 1 was only 40 percent, she said.

More from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

The farmers are happy, according to the Fresno Bee:

Recent storms have boosted southern Sierra Nevada snowpacks, raising hopes for many farmers who saw their water deliveries slashed last year. “The snowpack is the key for us,” said Kathi Woodward, an Easton-area farmer and dairy operator. “It means we’ll have to pump less ground water, it’s better for the environment, and it’s a lot less costly for us. All around, it’s been great.”

Thanks to the snowpack — which already exceeds typical annual peaks — the Fresno Irrigation District will begin delivering water Saturday, two months earlier in the season than last year, officials said this week.

A dry year that severely limited Kings River runoff meant farmers received just three months of water deliveries last season. This year, they’re expected to get water for six months. But with reservoir levels still recovering from last year’s parched conditions, it may be too early to say that California’s water outlook is back to normal. Despite the larger snowpack, water worries remain, particularly for growers on the Valley’s west side. Much of their water comes through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

“The delta is still the Achilles heel in this thing,” said Mark Borba, a Riverdale grower. Protections of the delta smelt last year brought restrictions in deliveries of water to west side farmers. And still more curbs could result from the listing this month of the longfin smelt by the state as an endangered species.

You can read the full text of the story from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

So is the drought over? Depends on which paper you’re reading. The other piece of news these articles fail to mention is that the Wanger court-mandated pumping restrictions went into effect today, curtailing pumping from the Delta by 25% for at least the next seven days. (See press release from DWR below.)

CORRECTION:  Pumping has been cut to 25% of normal for up to seven days.

February 28, 2008 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

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