California Snowpack Looking Up, But State Not Out Of Woods Yet - Many Reservoirs Still Low

SACRAMENTO— Winter storms have bolstered the Sierra snowpack and started to replenish California's water supply, but officials said today that may not mean much for farms and cities. The state Department of Water Resources reported the snowpack was holding about 115 percent of its usual water content for this time of year. That marked a big improvement over last year, when the snowpack was just 61 percent of normal during the same period.

The snowpack along the 400-mile mountain range is important because its runoff provides much of California's water supply. Despite the wet winter, federal regulations intended to protect fish are limiting water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Central Valley farms that grow half the nation's produce rely on the water that passes through the estuary.

"We anticipate it to be as bad, if not worse, as last year," said Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman at Westlands Water District in the Central Valley, Farmers in the district fallowed more than a third of their 600,000 acres last year.

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California's key reservoirs, which store the spring snowmelt before it's delivered, also are low after three dry years. Lake Oroville is about half as full as it should be for this time of year. Folsom Lake is at 61 percent, and Shasta is at 82 percent. The low storage levels, drought conditions and environmental restrictions, have prompted the state to promise only 5 percent of the water that contractors requested this year. However, deliveries could increase if the snowpack stays above normal for the next two months. The federal government has not yet told farmers how much water to expect from them.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14295799?nclick_check=1

;-)