Snow Pack Facts
Last week, spring storms blanketed the Sierra Nevada with much needed snow and rain. The storms are expected to provide some relief, but the amount of precipitation is merely a drop in the bucket during the mostly dry first three months of 2022.
Prior to that storm, the Department of Water Resources estimated the state’s snowpack was 38 percent of average, marking the lowest figure for the state’s snow levels since 2015.
Snowpack is important to area water supplies. That’s because snowmelt is an important water source that keeps streams flowing in the warmer months. It also replenishes reservoirs. One-third of the water used by California cities and farmland comes from melted snowpack.
Snowpack Facts:
• Regions that receive a great deal of their precipitation in the form of snow face a number of challenges when snow droughts occur.
The impacts of snow drought are often widespread, affecting ecosystems, reservoir levels and operations, water resource management, tourism, and winter recreation.
• In spring and summer months, snow drought reduces the amount of snowpack that can be released as snowmelt.
This, in turn, reduces streamflow and soil moisture, which can have impacts on water storage, irrigation, fisheries, vegetation, municipal water supplies and wildfires.
In the winter months, warmer weather can cause precipitation in mountain areas to fall as rain instead of snow.
When that happens, rain can present challenges for water management and flood mitigation strategies, particularly when dealing with extreme events.
• In snow drought conditions, ecosystems receive less water from snowpack, which can be disruptive or harmful to wildlife.
• Snowpack is also an important source of water and snow for local economies and industries that rely on snow and water to generate revenue from outdoor activities such as skiing, rafting and fishing.
—from State Water Control Board
