The year may have started with a dry spell, but the end of California storm season brought more fresh snow to Sierra Nevada, pushing the state snow to 96% of the average on April 1st, when snow season was at its normal peak.
Near-average snow packs gave the state a sufficient water supply to the mountains for the third year in a row.
“We had some indicators in the past that we might have a dry year, but fortunately, the storm windows remained open, and we are where we are today in February and March.
This average winter followed a very wet, snowy 2023 and wet 2024. This time, last year, the snowpack measured an average of 111%.
The rainy weather advantage provided a reprieve from the severe drought Californians who endured from 2020 to 2022.
The last time California had averaged or above average snow for the third year in a row was from 1998 to 2000, Reising said. At that point, it had been 20 years since the same pattern occurred from 1978 to 1980.
This year’s storm has provided ample rainfall with lower elevation and statewide precipitation since October 1st has resulted in a measurement of 103% of the average for this period.
The last two years left the California reservoir in good condition. The state’s major reservoirs are currently at 117% of the average level.
Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District supplies 19 million people across six counties, providing record amounts of water to reservoirs and underground storage areas.
“The reservoirs are above average this time of year, so it’s a great sign of progress this year,” he told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.
California snow packs typically provide almost a third of the state’s water supply.
The latest storms and snowman increase have led state water officers to increase their forecasts for water supplies last week. This has increased from the aqueduct from the aqueduct of the state water project, which transports supply from the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California. Allocation increased to 40% of the supply of demand, which increased from 35% a month ago.
The Trump administration also announced last week that it had increased the water allocation for the Central Valley Project, the CVP, the federal government management system for dams and reservoirs that supplies farmland, farmland and communities in the San Joaquin Valley.
Many agencies receiving water from CVPs are already set to receive 100% of their allocation, and the US Bureau of Reclamation has announced that the agricultural irrigation district south of the Delta will receive an initial 35% to 40% allocation.
The federal agency said in a written statement that it is trying to “maximise” water delivery as President Trump recently directed in an executive order. While Central Valley’s large agricultural water districts support Trump’s order, environmental advocates have raised concerns that the federal government to increase delta pumping could threaten vulnerable fish species that have declined in recent years.
The Bureau of Reclamation said it would act under Trump’s executive order to “maximise pumping at federal pumping facilities wherever possible and move water to parts of California where it is most needed.”
Adequate snowpacks and almost complete reservoirs meant a stable water supply in California at the time, but officials and experts have warned that the next dry spell could come at any time.
Scientific studies show that droughts are growing more intensely in the western United States due to global warming, with average snow lines creeping up in the mountains as temperatures rise, changing runoff patterns.
In February, scientists noted that snow packs were significantly smaller at many low-elevation monitoring sites in the mountains after months of warmer than average.
This year, we have brought more snow and wet patterns in Northern California, and fewer snow and dry conditions in Southern California. As of Tuesday, Snowpack measured an average of 118% in the northern Sierra, an average of 91% in the Central Sierra, and an average of 84% in the South Sierra.
In a social media post, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a social media post that “spring will begin in earnest across California” after the cold climate system departed Tuesday, and that it will be much dry and warmer for the next few days.
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