Drought conditions persist in Calfornia

Except for a very small area of northwestern California, the state is facing continuing drought conditions, something not unfamiliar in the West over the past decade. The current depiction and snow water content is running near two-thirds of average for the Sierra Nevada.

Data from the U.S drought monitor reveals that over 90 percent of California is suffering through a moderate drought or worse. Northern California is stuck in one of the worst two-year rainfall deficits seen since the 1849 Gold Rush. The last multi-year period of drought was 2011-17. Piers at Lake Tahoe were over sand and dirt instead of water a few of those years.
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On average, 75 percent of California's annual precipitation – made up of rain, snow, and hail – falls from November through March, according to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). The bulk of this precipitation occurs in just three months -- December, January, and February -- when California tends to get a small number of large winter storms called atmospheric rivers. A handful of atmospheric rivers, or lack thereof, during the winter season can determine if the year will be wet or dry.

As of March 26, the snowpack in California is at an average of 63 percent of normal- the northern Sierra is at 71 percent, central Sierra 68 percent, and southern Sierra at 46 percent.

The Nevada Snotel measurement is of snow where the melt ends up in Lake Tahoe and the Truckee and Walker Rivers. Heavenly's snow measurement is at 73 percent of normal, Mt. Rose at 60 percent, and the Tahoe City Cross Snotel is 63 percent. Snotel is the Snow Telemetry and Snow Course Data done electronically during the water season.

Lake Tahoe is lower than its been over the past five years on March 26. On that date in 2019, the lake was 6227.85 feet, in 2020 it was at 6227.49. This weekend it was 6225.45. The lowest point in six years was in 2016 when the lake was at 6222.83 feet. The natural rim of Lake Tahoe is 6223 feet above sea level.

DWR water managers have already informed users this week they they expect to deliver just five percent of requested water supplies to the State Water Project. This does not affect the Lake Tahoe Basin.

“We are now facing the reality that it will be a second dry year for California and that is having a significant impact on our water supply,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth in the release.

The State Water Project is a water storage and delivery system of reservoirs, aqueducts, power plants and pumping plant, extends more than 700 miles, and supplies water to more than 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland in Northern California, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the central coast and Southern California.