Sierra Snowpack Slipping below Normal, Snow Survey Shows

by Don Thompson, Associated Press Writer
The Fresno Bee, February, 27, 2002

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The crucial Sierra Nevada snowpack has slipped below normal after an above-average early winter, according to a survey Wednesday by the California Department of Water Resources.

Snow levels dropped to about 90 percent of average due to dry periods the last two months. But the snowpack that feeds reservoirs and hydroelectricity plants is still far deeper than last year, when accumulations about two-thirds of normal aggravated the state's electricity crisis.

Snowfall in the northern Sierra was slightly above average, but is below average to the South.

A wet spring could bring the snowpack to normal, said department spokesman Jeff Cohen, though the region's wettest months are usually January and February.

"We're hoping March will pull off maybe a mini-miracle," he said. "If we're at near-normal conditions, I don't think there will be much of an impact" on municipal water supplies.

Central Valley Project and State Water Project customers are likely to see lower water allocations, however, because their reservoirs were lowered by last year's below-normal conditions, Cohen said. And in the Modesto area, water providers already are starting deliveries because farmers haven't been getting enough rain.

The mountain range's snowpack provides two-thirds of California's water for cities, farms and recreation. In addition, hydroelectric plants produce about a quarter of California's power. However, the Pacific Northwest also is having a wetter winter than last year, easing fears of another regional hydroelectricity shortage.

Snow depth at Echo Summit, where hydrologists took their readings Wednesday, was actually at 102 percent of normal. But 95 remote automated sensors across the Sierra showed an average below what is typical this time of year.

The Sierra snow water content started the year at about 170 percent of normal.
"Periods of dryness have eroded that, but we're really hanging on with fairly good conditions," Cohen said.