The California winter snowpack, which typically supplies a third of the state’s water, has declined to 65% of normal after a dry January.
The state Department of Water Resources announced the new level on Friday following its second official snow survey of the season. At the first survey on Jan. 1, the snowpack was at 108%.
DWR’s measurement of the snowpack is based on electronic readings from 130 stations placed throughout the Sierra Nevada as well as a traditional manual survey at Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe.
“California missed out on critical snow-building storms in January which has pushed the state down below average for this time of year,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth.
“While we are excited to see some storm activity in the coming days, sustained periods of no precipitation can dry the state out very quickly,” she said. “For each day it’s not snowing or raining, we are not keeping up with what we need.”
Despite the low reading, officials noted that reservoirs have been managed to keep water levels above average for this time of year.
Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, is currently at 126% of average. San Luis Reservoir is at 101%. Reservoirs in Southern California are also near or above their historical averages.
Because of the reservoir supply, the DWR on Tuesday increased the planned allocation from the project to 20% from 15% of requests.
“Storm runoff into the state’s reservoirs came in higher than forecasted at the end of December allowing for a modest allocation increase,” the agency said.
The project provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians.
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