The state Department of Water Resources conducted its first snow survey of the season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada on Thursday morning and the results showed a near average snowpack for California.
Despite a warm and dry fall season, according to a DWR news release, after a “powerful atmospheric river in November broke several rainfall records in Northern California and a series of storms in late December,” the snowpack got a boost.
The manual survey recorded 24 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 9 inches, which is 91% of average for this location. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast, according to a DWR news release.
DWR’s electronic readings from 130 stations placed throughout the Sierra Nevada indicate that the statewide snowpack’s snow water equivalent is 10.7 inches, or 108% of average for this date, compared to 28% on this date last year.
“While our snowpack looks good now, we have a long way until April when our water supply picture will be more complete,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in a news release. “Extreme shifts between dry and wet conditions are continuing this winter and if the past several years are any indication, anything could happen between now and April and we need to be prepared.”
In both 2013 and 2022, the January snowpack was well above average thanks to December storm activity, only for dry conditions to take over the rest of the winter, quickly erasing early-season snow totals and continuing existing drought conditions across the state, the DWR news release said.
Kevin Strauss, spokesman for the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, said the snow survey lets the agency know where the state water supply is, in comparison to other years.
“Being at a normal or an average level is a good indication for us that we can begin to further our plans for what our supply portfolio will be for the year,” said Strauss.
He added that the supply portfolio is the wide range of water resources the SCV Water Agency depends on. The first snow survey will start to give an indication of where the state water supply is and if the agency will need to rely on its other resources to continue the supply levels for the valley.
On average, the Sierra snowpack supplies about 30% of California’s water needs, said the DWR news release. Data from these snow surveys and forecasts produced by DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit are important factors in determining how DWR manages the state’s water resources.
Strauss said that at this point the first survey will not dictate what the SCV Water Agency will do with its water supply.
“We will continue to monitor what the Department of Water Resources puts out for their state water allocation and for the snow survey to use that information to our advantage in our modeling and our system to make sure that we have the robust supply that we need for the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Strauss.
The next snow survey is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 3.
