The season’s first snow survey on Jan. 4 shows water content below average but still significantly better than last year.
Even though winter storms have coated California’s Sierra Nevada, the state is still experiencing a drier-than-normal start to the wet season with the snowpack at 67 percent of normal. Last year’s reading on Jan. 3 was at 29 percent.
As the snow melts, it helps feed rivers and replenish reservoirs. Even though we are hundreds of miles from the Sierras, Desert Water Agency has rights to some of that water. When precipitation and reservoir levels are low, it reduces the amount of water that we can import.