The California Department of Water Resources announced an increased water supply allocation for 2024.
The forecasted allocation has increased to 40%, up from 30% last month.
The increase would provide an additional 420,000 acre-feet of water, according to the department. That’s enough water to serve around 1.5 million households for a year.
Wearing snowshoes and aviator sunglasses, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood in a field near Lake Tahoe recently and listened as an engineer from the Department of Water Resources announced the results of California’s April snow survey, which is conducted every year when snow depths in the Sierra Nevada reach their maximum.
Californians don’t have to worry too much about drought for the foreseeable future.
The state’s Department of Water Resources said Tuesday’s snowpack survey revealed the snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains is above average at roughly 113%.
The Sierra Nevada was so bereft of snow in December that skiers and farmersalike worried that a disappointing winter was sure to give way to a drought-ridden spring and summer.
State officials on Friday doubled the amount of water California agencies will get this year following some strong storms that increased the snowpack in the mountains.
California’s snowpack is above average this winter following a series of storms that replenished one of the state’s most crucial water supplies, but still far behind where it stood during last year’s especially wet winter.
Two “Pineapple Express” atmospheric river storms hit California within a week, delivering significant precipitation across the West Coast. New satellite photos show the impact these storms had on California’s flagging snowpack.
Sunday’s powerful storm brought a big boost to the Sierra snowpack. Here’s a look at some weekend totals and an update to the snowpack water content. On Monday morning, ski resorts in the Tahoe Basin and along the Sierra Crest were reporting two to four feet of snow since Saturday morning.
Despite forecasts of heavy rain and possible flooding in the coming days, state water managers are warning that the “snow drought” in California’s Sierra Nevada could remain for the rest of the winter and into the spring.
What will California’s water picture look like in the next 12 months? The predictions are literally all over the map. After a measurement of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday, Jan. 2 found only 7.5 inches of snow — 30 percent of the average depth — the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) put out a statement saying residents should prepare for “flood or dry conditions in the months ahead.”
