Source: California Department of Water Resources
Several days of rain and snow have raised water levels in most major California reservoirs in the past month.
But, Doug Carlson with the California Department of Water Resources says the state is nowhere near even a normal year for rain and snow.
"That would take considerable precipitation -very heavy rain and snow- from now til perhaps the end of April to achieve the normal readings that we would expect in the snow pack for this time of year," he says. "That's just not in the forecast."
The eight inches of water in the Sierra snow pack is less than a-third of normal for this time of year.
"To help us get through this extended dry period we would need almost-every-other-day kind of heavy precipitation to begin to fill the reservoirs," says Carlson. "But, we're so far below what is normal for this time of date, that it would appear to be that we're just not going to see it."
Most of the other reservoirs in the state saw current capacity increase by one-to-four percent in the past month.
After starting the year as the worst drought on record, water levels have risen to at least match those last seen during the drought of 1976 and 77.
Source: CDEC.water.ca.gov
Related Stories
Drought In California Seems Inevitable. But Experts Say Don’t Panic.
March 1, 2020Parts of California just witnessed the driest February ever, and there’s around an 80 percent chance the state will enter a full-blown drought this year. If that happens, it could be the third-driest year in just over a century.
California's Dry October Could Be A Sign Of More Concentrated Rainy Seasons
October 29, 2018When it comes to rain and snow most of California is running below average this year, and little is forecast in the near future.
.jpg&width=186&height=140&constrain=true&pad=true&BgColor=cccccc "Tahoe Environmental Research Center boat captain Brant Allen lowers a Secchi disk from the research vessel into Lake Tahoe. The disk has been used for more than 50 years to measure water clarity at the lake.")
Extreme Weather Dropped Lake Tahoe Clarity To Historic Lows In 2017
June 13, 2018If you spent time on the water at Lake Tahoe last year and thought it looked a lot cloudier, you're right. UC Davis researchers say extreme weather — drought followed by heavy rains — caused clarity in 2017 to drop to its lowest recorded level.
Dry Spell Raises Fears Of Drought's Return In California
January 3, 2018(AP) — Despite dry conditions in much of the state, water managers say it's too early for fears that California is sliding back into drought as abruptly as the state fell out of it.
Caltrans Marking, Removing Dead Trees Along State Highways
August 22, 2017Caltrans is worried about the possibility of dead trees falling onto some California highways. The agency has already removed 107,000 trees. Now the agency is getting ready to remove another 54,000 trees, including some on private land.
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.