{"id":6073,"date":"2021-04-01T18:46:42","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T01:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saveourwater-local.local\/statewide-snowpack-well-below-normal-as-wet-season-winds-down\/"},"modified":"2024-07-02T11:52:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T18:52:11","slug":"statewide-snowpack-well-below-normal-as-wet-season-winds-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/statewide-snowpack-well-below-normal-as-wet-season-winds-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Statewide Snowpack Well Below Normal as Wet Season Winds Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Este art\u00edculo no est\u00e1 traducido en este momento. Recomendamos usar Google Translate.<\/mark>\n\nThe Department of Water Resources (DWR) today conducted the fourth snow survey at the Phillips Station snow course. The manual survey recorded 49.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 21 inches, which is 83 percent of average for this location. The SWE measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR\u2019s water supply forecast.<\/p>\n

Measurements from DWR\u2019s electronic snow survey stations indicate that statewide the snowpack\u2019s SWE is 16.5 inches, or 59 percent of average for the date. April 1 is typically when California\u2019s snowpack is the deepest and has the highest SWE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there is some snow on the ground today at Phillips Station, there is no doubt California is in a critically dry year. State agencies, water suppliers and Californians are more prepared than ever to adapt to dry conditions and meet the challenges that may be ahead,\u201d said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. \u201cWith climate change impacting how precipitation falls in California, ongoing water efficiency and long-term efforts like recycling water, capturing stormwater, and planting water-friendly landscapes are essential to securing California\u2019s water future.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Southern Sierra remains well below average for both rain and snow, the picture is somewhat different in the Northern and Central part of the state where California typically receives 75 percent of the State\u2019s annual precipitation. The few storms that impacted California this year have been colder, bringing more snow than rain. This is a positive sign for the Sierra snowpack which accounts for 30 percent of California\u2019s fresh water supply in an average year. For Water Year 2021, the snowpack in the Northern and Central Sierra peaked at 70 percent of average, however rain is below 50 percent of average, which ties this year for the third driest year on record.<\/p>\n

The severity of dry conditions is particularly evident\u00a0in the Feather River watershed where water levels at Lake Oroville,\u00a0the State Water Project\u2019s largest reservoir, are currently at 53 percent of average.Statewide, following a below average 2020 water year, California\u2019s major reservoirs are at just 50 percent of overall capacity.\u00a0The amount of water expected to enter California\u2019s reservoirs when the snowpack melts is projected to be just 58 percent of average.<\/p>\n

With dry conditions continuing to impact California\u2019s water supply, DWR recently announced an adjustment to the State Water Project allocation for 2021. The department now expects to deliver 5 percent of requested supplies this year, down from the initial allocation of 10 percent announced in December.<\/p>\n

California is better prepared for drought than in the past. Following the 2012-2016 drought, DWR enacted many programs focused on managing the state\u2019s water through a strategic, integrated approach with a strong emphasis on water use efficiency and conservation. The State provides assistance and tools to local water agencies to help them reduce their drought vulnerability. DWR\u2019s\u00a0Water Use and Efficiency Branch (WUE)<\/a>\u00a0provides agencies and individuals with assistance for improving water use efficiency and developing and meeting efficient water use requirements.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n

California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program\u00a0Story Map<\/a><\/p>\n

Video of today\u2019s Phillips survey<\/a>\u00a0(Expected between 2-3 p.m.)<\/em><\/p>\n

B-roll of reservoir levels including Lake Shasta, Oroville, Folsom, and San Luis<\/a><\/p>\n

Digital photos of today\u2019s Phillips survey<\/a>\u00a0(Expected between 2-3 p.m.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Digital photos of reservoir levels<\/a><\/p>\n

Snowpack readings<\/a>\u00a0(View readings for\u00a0<\/em>current regional snowpack<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>historical snowpack comparison<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

CDEC precipitation data<\/a>\u00a0(Viewupdated rainfall charts for the\u00a0<\/em>Northern Sierra 8-station index<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>San Joaquin 5-station index<\/em><\/a>and\u00a0<\/em>Tulare Basin 6-station index<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today conducted the fourth snow survey at the Phillips Station snow course. The manual survey\u00a0recorded 49.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 21 inches, which is 83 percent of average for this location. The\u00a0SWE measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":6074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saveourwater.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}