Officials are optimistic after conducting the first Sierra Nevada snowpack measurement of 2020.
By Casey Leins
Getty Images|Aurora Open
California officials measured the Sierra Nevada mountain range’s snowpack for the first time in 2020, and the results are promising.
California’s water supply for this year looks promising, with the statewide Sierra Nevada snowpack standing at its tallest in four years for early January, according to the state’s Department of Water Resources latest measurement on Thursday.
The Sierra Nevada mountain range supplies nearly a third of California’s water supply as it melts and sends billions of gallons of water into the state’s rivers, according to The Mercury News. On Thursday, state officials conducted their first snowpack measurement of the season at Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe and determined that the snow was 33.5 inches deep and its water content was 97% of the historical average for this time of year.
“It’s a good start,” Chris Orrock, a spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources, told The Mercury News. “It’s better than it was last year. But it’s still early. We’re cautiously optimistic.”
Now, the state must wait to see if January and February, which account for a large portion of California’s precipitation, will be as fruitful as was December.
In early December, rains reduced the portion of the state considered to be abnormally dry from 85.3% to 3.6% in just a week.
“It’s still too early to predict what the remainder of the year will bring in terms of snowpack,” Sean de Guzman, chief of the agency’s snow surveys and water supply forecasting area, told the Los Angeles Times.
After California’s historic drought of 2012 to 2016, the state also has some policies in place to help preserve the water supply. Due to legislation signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, officials in areas with some of the most over-pumped groundwater basins must tell the state this month how they will replenish their supplies. There are also a number of dam projects in the works, including one to raise the height of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir.
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