Drought Improvement: California’s Sierra Snowpack NOW 80% of Normal!; Water Restrictions Still Imminent, However (MercuryNews)

Mar.03, 2009 in Drought

(March 2, 2009, The Mercury News)

Even with the recent heavy rains that deluged the state, California’s snowpack is 80 percent of normal and the state’s largest reservoirs are still far below where they should be at this time of year.

“Obviously, it’s much better than last month. The problem is, on the heels of two critically dry years and a very dry January, we have a lot of making up to do,” said Sue Sims, spokeswoman for the state Department of Water Resources, which released this winter’s third snow survey on Monday.

Although the snow levels are a vast improvement, they’re not good enough to avoid water restrictions.

Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency, saying three years of below-average rain and snowfall have drained California’s key reservoirs to the lowest levels since 1992. He urged Californians to cut back their water use by 20 percent.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District also has proposed water restrictions if the situation does not improve by March 24.

“While it’s certainly good news that the snowpack is up, it’s going to have to continue raining significantly between now and the end of the month to help us avoid mandatory restrictions,” said Susan Siravo, spokeswoman for the water district.

Mandatory cutbacks, if necessary, by the Santa Clara Valley Water District could range from 10 to 20 percent.

Half of the district’s water is supplied by local groundwater, the rest comes from the snowpack, which is delivered through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.Thus far, San Jose has received 9.52 inches of rain for the season, 86 percent of normal, a dramatic increase from just one month ago when San Jose’s rainfall was 51 percent of normal. The state’s snowpack was 61 percent of normal. In mid-February, Northern California’s five largest federal reservoirs, Shasta, Folsom, Trinity, New Melones and San Luis, were 38 percent full.

Monday, those same reservoirs were 46 percent full, still far short of the 15-year average of 76 percent for this time of year.

“That’s a lot of ground to make up,” Sims said.

With reservoirs so low, the federal government last month announced that this summer cities should expect only 50 percent of the water they are contracted to receive, making it the first time in nearly two decades that so little federal water has been available from the Delta.

But showers are expected to continue through Thursday.

“It does look favorable in terms of us getting more rain for the next few days,” said Ryan Walbrun, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Monterey.

By the weekend, however, it should be dry again.

(Original Article Here)