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Snowpack’s Water Content Far Greater than One Year Ago, But It’s Still Too Soon to Know Whether Drought Will Be Broken

From the California Department of Water Resources

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the winter’s first media-oriented manual snow survey today, and despite the higher-than-average water content for the statewide snowpack, officials said snowfall during the remainder of the winter will largely determine whether California’s drought will be entrenched for a fifth year.

Full Department of Water Resources New Release

DWR Director Mark Cowin said the heavy snowfall so far during Water Year 2016 “has been a reasonable start, but another three or four months of surveys will indicate whether the snowpack’s runoff will be sufficient to replenish California’s reservoirs by this summer.” Each water year begins on October 1 and ends on the following September 30.

Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, said more than four years of drought have left a water deficit around the state that may be difficult to overcome in just one winter season. “Clearly, this is much better that it was last year at this time, but we haven’t had the full effect of the El Niño yet,” Gehrke said. “If we believe the forecasts, then El Niño is supposed to kick in as we move through the rest of the winter. That will be critical when it comes to looking at reservoir storage.”

Today’s manual reading by Surveys chief Frank Gehrke (in red coat) found 16.3 inches of snow water equivalent, 136 percent of average for this date. Statewide, electronic readings found the water content at 105 percent of average – about twice as much as last year.

 

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