Sacramento Bee: State snow survey shows no snow but no water worries

Survey shows lack of snow in Sierra Nevada
By Matt Weiser
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1B

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved. The first Sierra Nevada snow survey of the winter found more grass than snow in some locations, yet state officials said the dry conditions are not yet a reason to worry about water supplies.
The survey conducted Tuesday found the water content of the mountain snowpack at just 19 percent of average for the date, one of the lowest readings ever recorded for this time of year. But it remains early in winter, and officials at the state Department of Water Resources said there is still plenty of time to catch up.
"Fortunately, we have most of winter ahead of us, and our reservoir storage is good," department Director Mark Cowin said in a statement.
Near Echo Summit along Highway 50 on Tuesday, at 6,800 feet elevation, the Water Resources snow survey crew measured only 4 inches of snow depth. Much of the survey site had more exposed grass and brush than snow.
Another site along Highway 50, but 1,000 feet higher, had no snow at all.
On the same date last year, these sites were buried under several feet of snow and the snowpack was 212 percent of normal.
Thanks to that bountiful winter, most of the state's water reservoirs still hold above-average supplies.
Water Resources officials this year anticipate providing 60 percent of contract water deliveries to 29 local agencies that buy water from the State Water Project. The delivery forecast typically changes as winter proceeds, but 60 percent is a relatively big forecast for early winter.
Those 29 local agencies serve more than 25 million Californians and 1 million acres of farmland. They hold contracts to buy 4 million acre-feet of water annually from the state – water that is provided mostly by Sierra snowmelt.