You are now in California and the U.S. Media Coverage category.

The Department of Water Resources conducted the first snow survey of the season at Phillips Station on Dec. 30. The manual survey recorded 24 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 5 inches, which is 50 percent of average for this location. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast. Statewide, the snowpack was 71 percent of average for this date.

The results are welcome news for water managers who rely on the statewide snow surveys to make water supply decisions for the year ahead. California’s statewide snowpack had been lacking in early December with above-average temperatures and very little storm activity. Recent storms have turned that around and provided a significant boost to the snowpack and the state’s water supply.

Farmers in two of Southern California’s ag-centric irrigation districts have long been playing their part to slow the decline in the Colorado River’s system supply. They do this while working with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to provide water to 19 million urban residents.

Blythe farmer Grant Chaffin is working toward a solution that could help him farm with less irrigation water from the Colorado River. Chaffin knows his solution won’t solve long-term drought but can help him better manage the irrigation water he has.

Brad Riesenberg has worked in the winter sports industry for more than 20 years, and he’s never seen a winter with such paltry snowfall and mild temperatures as he has this season. Riesenberg, who is an owner at Backcountry Snowmobiling in Park City, Utah, said customers have been canceling their tours due to a lack of snow. Snowmobiling requires a thick snowpack at lower elevations in order to be viable, Riesenberg pointed out.

“We’ve lost lots and lots of money and it’s been pretty tough,” he said. “This is up there with some of the worst [winters], if not the worst.”

The United States and Mexico have reached a long-sought understanding under the 1944 Water Treaty that promises immediate relief for Texas farmers and ranchers while setting a path to repay years of overdue water deliveries from the Rio Grande.

Under the agreement announced today, Mexico will begin releasing 202,000 acre-feet of water to the United States starting the week of December 15, 2025, addressing obligations from the current five-year treaty cycle and helping repay deficits carried over from the previous cycle. Officials from both nations said negotiations are ongoing, with a comprehensive repayment plan expected to be finalized by January 31, 2026.

The Rio Grande Basin is experiencing pronounced aridification, with a trend toward persistently warmer, drier conditions. These conditions now mark a “new normal” for the region and exemplify a broader pattern among bodies of water worldwide.

As the Alamosa Citizen reported, the Rio Grande Basin experienced atypical weather patterns in 2025, characterized by prolonged warm, dry periods followed by late-season heavy rains.