Late storms pad Sierra snow pack, though total still below normal

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO (AP) Late heavy storms last weekend padded the Sierra Nevada snow pack, though levels remain below normal everywhere except the northernmost part of the mountain range, state water watchers said Wednesday.

The statewide average is 86 percent of normal, up from 81 percent on April 1, the Department of Water Resources said. It's the third consecutive below-average winter, though forecasters do not anticipate a drought.

More than a third of the state's drinking and irrigation water comes from Sierra snow, while snow-fed hydroelectric plants produce about a quarter of California's power.

The northern Sierra snow pack was at 103 percent of normal, up from 94 percent two weeks ago. The central section of the range was 86 percent of normal, up from 82 percent, while the southern Sierra was at 72 percent of normal, up from 68 percent.

A manual snow pack survey conducted April 1 showed about 5 percent less snow, and is considered more accurate than the more recent estimates that use snow sensors scattered across the range.

The recent series of storms ``certainly has helped,'' said department spokesman Roger Canfield. ``But we had quite a few dry months.''

The department's climatologist is predicting light precipitation through Friday, but no more large storms are in the near forecast.

The State Water Project put its allocation to its contractual recipients at ``a conservative 50 percent of normal,'' but will likely raise the allocation a bit based on the extra snowfall, Canfield said.

The amount of water that actually will be delivered to farmers and communities depends not only on the snow accumulation, but on water stored in reservoirs and how much water managers think they need to hold in the event the string of dry winters continues.

On the Net:

http://cdec.water.ca.gov

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