FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — A crucial snow survey on Wednesday reveals California’s snowpack is at 18% of average.<\/p>\n
A bare Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe serves as a sign of the findings, which revealed 0 inches of water content and depth, making the location sit at 0% of average.<\/p>\n
“Normally, we’d be standing right here if we had an average year. This is obviously a below-average year,” California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit Manager, Andy Reising, said.<\/p>\n
Phillips Station is one of more than 260 measurement sites that contribute to this April survey.<\/p>\n
The Kings River snowpack is another contributor. Its water content is about 12.5 inches, only 43% of the average, according to findings from the Kings River Water Association.<\/p>\n
These low results come at a time when the snowpack should be at its peak, but recent warm, dry weather has created issues.<\/p>\n
“Snow that would’ve melted in April or May and run off then actually ran off in March, so we had a much earlier melt,” Kings River Water Association watermaster Steven Haugen explained.<\/p>\n
That earlier melt poses challenges to the area as the Kings River watershed serves portions of Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties.<\/p>\n
“The irrigators have to run water earlier than they would like, so we’re concerned about what we might have for water supply when we get to late July and August\/September. We may run out earlier than we typically would,” Haugen stated.<\/p>\n
But for now, the Department of Water Resources says the state’s reservoirs are almost full.<\/p>\n
“What we have in our reservoirs is what we have and we have it to manage really for the next six months or so until we hit October,” DWR director Karla Nemeth said.<\/p>\n
The Kings River Water Association says that means water districts and managers may need to switch to groundwater earlier than they would like.<\/p>\n
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