California Water Officials Issue Warning as Key Water Supply Number Plunges

A California water official has warned that the longer the Golden State goes without adequate snowfall this winter, the “harder it will be to catch up” to the levels needed to maintain California’s reservoir water supply through the dry summer months.

The message came as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted its second snow survey of the season last week. Snow surveys are designed to measure water content from statewide snow depth, which is a crucial number for statewide water supply forecasts, given that snowpack provides about 30 percent of the state’s water supply.