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Surveyors ‘Ecstatic’ As Sierra Snowpack Measures 173% Of Normal

/in /by /SFGate (San Francisco)by Peter Fimrite

The pros in charge of California’s water system were exultant Thursday after precise measurements in the Sierra Nevada confirmed what everyone can see — heaping mounds of frozen water known as snow. The Sierra snowpack, otherwise known as the state’s frozen water supply, came in at 173 percent of normal for this point in the season. For the first time in a long time, the California water system might be able to make both farmers and environmentalists happy.

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California Snowpack At Drought-Busting Level, Water Managers Say

/in /by /Associated Press (As published by CBS News)

Clambering through a snowy meadow with drifts up to the tree branches, California’s water managers measured the state’s vital Sierra Nevada snowpack Thursday at a drought-busting and welcome 173 percent of average. Runoff from the overall Sierra snowpack, which provides arid California with a third of its water in a good year, stood at the highest level since 1995 for this point in the year, California’s Department of Water Resources said.

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Water, Water Everywhere In California – And Not Enough Reservoir Space To Store It

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow, Dale Kasler and Phillip Reese

After five years of drought, could California really have so much rain and snow there’s no room to store all the water?The answer – as the state’s water picture careens from bust to boom – is yes. One month into an exceptionally stormy 2017, river flows though the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have been so powerful that the massive pumps that ship north-state water to Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley have roared at full throttle for weeks.

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Kern County’s Drought Ranking Improves Again, Now Considered “Moderate”

/in /by /23ABC (Bakersfield)by Elaina Rusk Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It’s Groundhog Day and Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning and called for six more weeks of winter, which is pretty appropriate since we woke up to rain in California once again. But the biggest headline of the day is that the latest drought report was released this morning, and once again we have seen significant improvement in the drought conditions here in Kern County!

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California Snowpack Reaches 173% Of Average, Replenishing A Third Of State’s ‘Snow-Deficit’

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Joseph Serna

Snowfall from a series of blizzard-like storms that blanketed the Sierra Nevada last month deposited the equivalent of more than 5.7 trillion gallons of water along the rugged mountain range — enough water to fill California’s largest reservoir more than four times, according to recent analysis. In a study by the University of Colorado Boulder and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in La Cañada Flintridge, scientists concluded this month that recent snowfall had replenished more than a third of the state’s lingering “snow-water deficit.”

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A Key Source To Ending California’s Drought, Sierra Nevada Snowpack Up 173 Percent

/in /by /San Gabriel Valley Tribune (As published by Los Angeles Daily News)by Steve Scauzillo

Snow levels in the Sierra Nevada — a source of about 30 percent of the drinking water for Southern California — have more than quadrupled in one month, according to a manual survey conducted Thursday by state hydrologists. Water content contained within the 90.3 inches of snow measured at Phillips Station in the central Sierra Nevada contain a water equivalent of 28.1 inches, up from only 6 inches on Jan. 3, the state Department of Water Resources reported.

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Approved Water Rate Increases Rile Some Escondido Residents

/in /by /The Coast News Group (Encinitas)by Steve Puterski Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

A five-year water rate increase was approved by the City Council Wednesday to fund Capital Improvement Projects and operational costs. According to a report from Director of Utilities Chris McKinney, the new water and wastewater rates will increase Water Fund revenue by 5.5 percent per year over the next five years. The adjusted rates will become effective March 1 and each year thereafter through 2021. The increases, according to the cost of service study, will cover the estimated $141.5 million in capital expenditures and $75 million in proposed bonds.

 

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Two Of Nation’s Worst Droughts Have Seen Significant Improvement In January

/in /by /The Weather Channelby Linda Lam Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Two of the nation’s worst drought areas saw significant improvement in January thanks to several rounds of quenching precipitation in recent weeks. Several rounds of heavy rain and snow have brought a major reduction to the drought in Southern California, while a stormy pattern also brought beneficial rain to areas of the South. As a result, the U.S. Drought Monitor released January 26 revealed the Lower 48 has no area in exceptional drought, the worst category possible, for the first time since April 4, 2011.

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