Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
CA Snowpack Is Near-Average. What Does This Mean for Water Supplies?
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 3 weeks ago on
March 31, 2025

Officials from the state Department of Water Resources conduct a snow survey at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, Friday, March 28, 2025. Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys and supply forecasting, is in the foreground. (DWR/Ken James)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Despite some heavy rainstorms and squalls of snow in recent months, the Sierra Nevada snowpack stands at 90% of average, according to state officials.

By Alastair Bland

CalMatters

This year’s measurements mark the first below-average April snowpack since 2022, when it dropped to a dismal 38% of the historical average. Last year at this time, the statewide calculation reached 110% of the average, and in 2023, the snowpack was one of the largest ever, measuring more than twice the average.

More snow is on the way, however, which could make this year right around average. “This will be the third year in a row that the snowpack conditions at the start of April are near or above the average,” which is “great news for the state,” said Andy Reising, manager of the Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit.

Snow levels in the Sierra Nevada at this time of year are considered especially important, since they help water managers determine how much water will be available through the dry season, which typically begins around May.

Sierra Nevada snowpack supplies about a third of the state’s water on average.

As snow fell Friday morning, a Department of Water Resources survey team measured several spots on the snowy meadow at Phillips Station, a few miles south of Lake Tahoe. The average snow depth was 39.5 inches, with a water content of 17 inches — numbers representing 70% of the April 1 average for that location.

“We hope to add a few more inches before the year is out,” Reising said, noting that storms forecast to cross the Sierra could add more snow.

Reising said the erratic winter weather patterns of the past six months “are a good reminder that the next flood or drought could come at any time.”

“We know future years won’t all unfold like this one has, and in addition we know that floods and droughts can happen at any time,” Reising said. “It is the California way of life to expect that.”

Central Sierra Snowpack 83% of Normal

Throughout the state’s main mountain range, snowpack averaged from more than 250 sites ranged from above average to considerably below. In the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade peaks, it stands at 108% of the historical April 1 average, but in the central and southern Sierra, it’s just 83% and 81%.

The data reflects a sharp regional discrepancy this winter, with wet conditions prevailing in the northern half of the state and drought across Southern California. Reising noted that Southern California has experienced roughly 50% of its average annual rainfall.

Sierra Nevada snow provides cold runoff that feeds rivers and reservoirs and helps support fish habitat all summer.

“As we near the end of the wet season, our focus shifts to snowpack runoff and whether temperatures allow for a slow melt so we can capture as much of that runoff as possible,” said Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth.

The north-to-south disparity in the state’s precipitation this year “affects how much water the State Water Project will be able to deliver,” she said.

“It’s great news that our state’s snowpack has recovered from several weeks of extremely dry conditions in the heart of our winter storm season,” Nemeth said. “However, it’s not a wet year across the entire Sierra Nevada.”

State officials earlier this week announced that deliveries to water users would be increased this year from an earlier allocation. As of March 25, water users who depend on the State Water Project receive 40% of requested supplies.

A final allocation will be issued in May or June and could result in another increase, according to the department.

The State Water Contractors, which receives and distributes the water to farms and urban areas, mostly in Southern California, issued a statement on March 25 noting a “mismatch in hydrology and exports” from the Delta.

General Manager Jennifer Pierre urged state officials “to continue to pursue modernized infrastructure to further develop scientific rationale to refine regulatory requirements and ramp up adaptive management.”

Reservoir Levels Above Average

Reservoir levels statewide are well above average. In Southern California, in spite of a relatively dry winter, most reservoirs are nearly full. In Northern California, Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, is 111% of its average capacity for this date. Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir of the State Water Project, is at 120%.

Together, these two reservoirs now contain about 7 million acre-feet of water. While that’s almost enough water to supply all of the state’s residents for about two years, most of it is diverted to farms.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the Central Valley Project, has also announced an increase in the 2025 allocation of water supplies.

President Donald Trump repeatedly tried to blame water issues and the Los Angeles fires on the Newsom administration’s management of Delta water supplies. Though corrected repeatedly by media and outspoken officials, he ordered the release of water from two federal reservoirs in late January. San Joaquin Valley farmers and others said the releases wasted water because they came at a time when their crops didn’t need irrigation. That water also doesn’t reach Los Angeles.

California’s ski resorts report mixed results this year. Mammoth Mountain has reported 248 inches of snow this season, considerably less than the ample amounts that fell during the past two winters but more than the 168 inches in the drought-plagued winter of 2014-15.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Anonymous Donor Gives $2.5 Million to Terry’s House at CRMC

DON'T MISS

US Will Aim for UK to Cut Its Automotive Tariff to 2.5% From 10%, WSJ Reports

DON'T MISS

Secret Search or Meet the Finalists? Debate Rages as Fresno Nears Its Superintendent Pick

DON'T MISS

Kerman Police Arrest Four for DUI, Another for Drug Offense

DON'T MISS

Outrage Grows to Assembly Bill That Would Slash Solar Contract Benefits

DON'T MISS

Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is Ours

DON'T MISS

US to Phase out Many Synthetic Food Dyes, Kennedy and FDA Head Say

DON'T MISS

Tesla CEO Musk Says Will Scale Back Government Work Starting in May

DON'T MISS

FAA Takes Action to Prevent Helicopter Incidents Near Las Vegas Airport

DON'T MISS

Trump: No Plans to Fire Fed Chair Powell, but Wants Lower Rates

UP NEXT

US Will Aim for UK to Cut Its Automotive Tariff to 2.5% From 10%, WSJ Reports

UP NEXT

Secret Search or Meet the Finalists? Debate Rages as Fresno Nears Its Superintendent Pick

UP NEXT

Kerman Police Arrest Four for DUI, Another for Drug Offense

UP NEXT

Outrage Grows to Assembly Bill That Would Slash Solar Contract Benefits

UP NEXT

Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is Ours

UP NEXT

US to Phase out Many Synthetic Food Dyes, Kennedy and FDA Head Say

UP NEXT

Tesla CEO Musk Says Will Scale Back Government Work Starting in May

UP NEXT

FAA Takes Action to Prevent Helicopter Incidents Near Las Vegas Airport

UP NEXT

Trump: No Plans to Fire Fed Chair Powell, but Wants Lower Rates

UP NEXT

Jury Finds NY Times Not Liable in Sarah Palin Defamation Case

Kerman Police Arrest Four for DUI, Another for Drug Offense

13 hours ago

Outrage Grows to Assembly Bill That Would Slash Solar Contract Benefits

13 hours ago

Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is Ours

14 hours ago

US to Phase out Many Synthetic Food Dyes, Kennedy and FDA Head Say

14 hours ago

Tesla CEO Musk Says Will Scale Back Government Work Starting in May

14 hours ago

FAA Takes Action to Prevent Helicopter Incidents Near Las Vegas Airport

14 hours ago

Trump: No Plans to Fire Fed Chair Powell, but Wants Lower Rates

14 hours ago

Jury Finds NY Times Not Liable in Sarah Palin Defamation Case

14 hours ago

RFK Jr Plans to Phase Out Artificial Dyes From the US Food Supply

15 hours ago

Top Producer at ’60 Minutes’ Quits Amid Trump Lawsuit Pressure

15 hours ago

Anonymous Donor Gives $2.5 Million to Terry’s House at CRMC

Terry’s House received a $2.5 million gift from an  anonymous donor on Tuesday. The house is a “home away from home” for f...

12 hours ago

12 hours ago

Anonymous Donor Gives $2.5 Million to Terry’s House at CRMC

A port vehicle drives past trailers and shipping containers at the Port of Belfast, Northern Ireland January 2, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble
12 hours ago

US Will Aim for UK to Cut Its Automotive Tariff to 2.5% From 10%, WSJ Reports

12 hours ago

Secret Search or Meet the Finalists? Debate Rages as Fresno Nears Its Superintendent Pick

Kerman police arrested four suspected DUI drivers and one person for alleged drug sales during a traffic enforcement operation Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Shutterstock)
13 hours ago

Kerman Police Arrest Four for DUI, Another for Drug Offense

13 hours ago

Outrage Grows to Assembly Bill That Would Slash Solar Contract Benefits

14 hours ago

Will Fresno Unified Sacrifice Another Generation of Students? The Choice Is Ours

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary announces the FDA’s intent to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation’s food supply during a press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 22, 2025. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
14 hours ago

US to Phase out Many Synthetic Food Dyes, Kennedy and FDA Head Say

Tesla CEO Elon Musk boards Air Force One with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) as they depart for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., March 22, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo/File Photo)
14 hours ago

Tesla CEO Musk Says Will Scale Back Government Work Starting in May

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend