The year may have started with a drought, but the end of the California storm season has caused more fresh snow to the Sierra Nevada, lowering the state’s snowflakes to 96% of the April 1 average, when the snow season usually peaks.
The near-average snow has allowed the state to provide adequate water supply in the mountains for the third consecutive year, something that has not happened in a quarter of a century.
“Earlier, there were some metrics that we might have a dry year, but luckily the storm windows remained open and were a good boost for us today in February and March,” said Andy Reising, manager of Snow Survey and Water Forecasts for the California Department of Water Resources.
This near-average winter is in the extremely wet and snowy 2023 and 2024 wet winters. Last year, Snowpack averaged 111% during this period.
The dominance of wet weather has caused relief from the driest, driest Californians in the state in the driest triennium.
Resin said the last time California’s average snowfall lasted for three consecutive years was from 1998 to 2000. By then, it had been 20 years since similar patterns had occurred from 1978 to 1980.
Since October 1, the storm has brought rainfall at lower altitudes, with precipitation across the state at an average of 103% at this time of year.
The past two wet years have also kept California’s reservoirs in good condition. The state’s main reservoirs are now 117% of the average.
Southern California’s metropolitan water district provides water to 19 million people in six counties, with record water in reservoirs and underground storage areas.
“There are above average reservoirs at this time of year, which is a good sign of progress this year,” Lising told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.
California’s snow cover usually provides nearly one-third of the state’s water supply.
The latest storm and snow increase prompted state water officials to make forecasts of water from the State Water Project this year from the water pipes, which were shipped from the Sacramento-Shandong Joaquin River Delta to Southern California. Distribution increased to 40% of the required consumables, up from 35% a month ago.
The Trump administration also announced last week that it added water allocation for this year’s Central Valley Project (CVP), a federally managed dam and reservoir system that provides farmland and communities from the Delta to the San Joaquin Valley.
Many agencies receiving water from CVP have already set to receive 100% distribution, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that agricultural irrigation areas south of the Delta will now receive 40% distribution, up from the initial 35%, while those obtained from larger and Madera Canals will receive 100% distribution.
Federal agencies said in a written statement that it is seeking to “maximize” water due to President Trump’s recent guidance with executive orders. Large agricultural water zones in the Central Valley support Trump’s orders, while environmental advocates raise concerns that federal efforts to increase delta pumping could threaten vulnerable fish that have fallen in recent years.
The Reclamation Bureau said it will “maximize pumping as much as possible in federal pumping facilities to move water to parts of the places where it needs it most.”
While large amounts of snow and an almost complete reservoir mean a temporary supply of stable water for California, officials and experts warn that the next dry spell could happen at any time.
Scientific research shows that droughts in the western United States are becoming more and more severe due to global warming. As temperatures rise, the average snowfall line in the mountainous areas becomes higher and higher on the mountain, as runoff patterns change.
In February, scientists pointed out that after months of temperature, many of the low-altitude monitoring sites on the mountain were significantly smaller.
This year also brought patterns of snow and wet conditions in northern California, with less snow and dryness in Southern California. As of Tuesday, northern Nevada had 118% of the average snowfall, central Sierra Leone had an average of 91% and Sierra Mountains had an average of 84%.
After the cold weather system left Tuesday, “spring will start seriously throughout California,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said in a social media post that things will be drier and warmer in the coming days.
