fbpx
published on March 30, 2016 - 5:16 PM
Written by

(AP) — A nearly average spring snowpack in the Sierra Nevada will likely prolong tough water conservation measures in drought-stricken California — although the restrictions could be loosened in some areas after an El Nino storm system drenched the northern half of the state this winter, officials said Wednesday.


“The message is still very strong: Conservation measures are still going to be important,” Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Survey Program, said after he trudged through the snow to manually measure the snowpack at nearly 95 percent of normal.

A year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown stood on the same spot — then a dusty patch of ground with no snow — to announce that the dire drought required residents to cut back water use by 25 percent.

Californians are now under orders to use at least 20 percent less water. To comply, many have let lawns turn brown, flushed toilets less often and taken other measures aimed at saving water.

Northern California has seen the most rain and snow this winter, lifting its three largest reservoirs to above-normal levels. Southern California, meanwhile, saw relatively little precipitation leaving most of its reservoirs low and threatening to further deplete dwindling groundwater.

George Kostyrko of the State Water Board said officials will consider the difference in those regions while setting new conservation targets in the months ahead.

The snowpack in California — now in its fifth year of drought — is typically at its deepest on April 1 before the snow melts in the warm months, rushing down streams and rivers into lakes and reservoirs.

The melted snow provides roughly one-third of the water consumed by thirsty cities and farms in the nation’s leading agricultural and most populous state.

San Joaquin Valley farmer Shawn Stevenson said the nearly average snowpack provided a bit of encouragement after five tough years forced him to cut back his farming operation by nearly half.

“It’s certainly not the kind of news where we can breathe a sigh of relief and think the drought’s over,” Stevenson said. “It’s going to take a number of years to recover.”

Strong El Nino storms in early March led some water districts to question whether a drought emergency still existed and if residents should still be required to live under conservation orders.

Leaders of local water districts say the state needs to save the emergency declaration for the true emergencies, fearing they will lose credibility with the public the next time drought hits and they are asked to conserve.

Tracy Quinn, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the state should keep some conservation mandates in place in the south and make other measures permanent.

“It’s important to remember we’ve had several years of exceptionally hot and dry weather and it’s going to be a long road to recovery,” Quinn said. “We don’t know what the next year and several years will bring.”

_____
Smith reported from Fresno, California. AP writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Sonoma, California.


e-Newsletter Signup

Our Weekly Poll

Do you think Valley Children's Hospital will lose financial support due to CEO pay revelations?
72 votes

Central Valley Biz Blogs

. . .