California’s wet season is coming to a close without a much-sought “March miracle” storm, setting the stage for a painful escalation of drought in the coming months.
The April 1 snow survey, which measures the peak accumulation of snow in the Sierra and southern Cascades just before it melts, will show only about 60% of average snowpack. California relies on this snow to fill its rivers and streams, to help keep forests and grasslands from burning, and to provide up to a third of the state’s water supply.
The grim survey results expected Thursday, which mark a second straight year of significantly dry conditions, reinforce warnings of a difficult fire season ahead and bolster the expanding calls for water conservation.
Already, much of California’s farm country faces imminent water cutbacks while several communities, including Marin County and parts of Napa, Sonoma and Santa Clara counties, are asking customers for voluntary reductions. A few cities have enacted mandatory cuts, and others are considering similarly stringent measures.
“We’re comparing this year a lot, hydrologically speaking, to 2014-2015, which was the height of the drought,” said Chris Orrock, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources, which conducts the snow surveys. “Water is a finite resource that we have to be sure we’re using as efficiently and as wisely as we can.”
One of the biggest similarities to last decade’s five-year drought, which triggered unprecedented water rationing, is how low water levels are dropping behind the state’s big dams. Reservoir supplies, which are piped hundreds of miles to consumers across California, provide most of the water for the state’s agricultural industry and a big portion for many cities.
“When I look at reservoir levels, it’s like it’s 2014ish,” said Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis and director of the school’s Center for Watershed Sciences.
The state’s largest reservoir, Lake Shasta, on Wednesday contained only 65% of the water it typically holds this time of year while Lake Oroville held 53% and Folsom Lake had 58%.
The snowpack that nourishes these reservoirs, while low, is more than what accumulated during the worst years of the last drought. The April 2015 snow survey, for example, recorded just 5% of average snowpack. Still, many reservoirs, including Shasta, Oroville and Folsom, are coming out of this wet season with less water than they did six years ago, meaning they need more snowmelt to catch up.
Total precipitation in many areas has lagged even what it was during last decade’s drought years. The storms this past winter have generally been colder, which translated to more snow, but they often delivered less rain.
Boaters are using temporary ramps at the Granite Bay Boat Ramp on Folsom Lake on Sunday. The lake is at only 37% percent of capacity.
Michael Macor / Special to The Chronicle
Rock formations are exposed because of low water levels at Folsom Lake’s Beals Point Recreation Area on Sunday.
Michael Macor / Special to The Chronicle
The beach area is closed, so the lifeguard stations sit idle at the Beals Point Recreation Area at Folsom Lake on Sunday. Little precipitation the past two rainy seasons has left the lake at only 37% percent of capacity.
Michael Macor / Special to The Chronicle
Visitors on Sunday walk down to the edge of Folsom Lake, which has only 58% of the water it typically holds this time of year
Michael Macor / Special to The Chronicle
The water level is down at Folsom Lake. Reservoir levels are low, and precipitation has been low. The snowmelt from the Sierra won’t be enough to catch up this year.
Michael Macor / Special to The Chronicle
Fishing along the low waters at the Granite Bay launch area on Folsom Lake on Sunday. The state’s snowmelt won’t contain enough water for the lake to catch up this year.
Michael Macor / Special to The Chronicle
Boaters use temporary boat ramps due to the low water levels at the Granite Bay launch area on Folsom Lake on Sunday.
Michael Macor / Special to The ChronicleIn California’s far north, which sees the state’s most rain and snow and contributes most to statewide water supplies, annual precipitation since October is on track to be the second-lowest in more than a century of state record-keeping. Only the 1976-77 water year was drier. Currently, the second-driest water year was last year.
Similarly dry conditions extend to the Bay Area. San Francisco, if it gets less than 0.6 inches of rain through June 30, would record its third-lowest seasonal precipitation in more than 150 years, according to Golden Gate Weather Services. The 1850-51 season was the driest followed by 1975-76.
The scant precipitation prompted the California Department of Water Resources last week to lower this year’s projected allocation for customers of the State Water Project’s reservoirs to just 5% of what’s requested. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which also manages a network of reservoirs, said last week that many of its customers will get no water until further notice.
The State Water Resources Control Board, meanwhile, has warned the state’s 40,000 water rights holders, basically any person or water agency drawing water from a river or reservoir, that they could face cuts.
The moves mean cities and farms will increasingly have to turn to alternative supplies, such as groundwater and local stormwater runoff, as well as buy water from agencies with greater reserves. Those with less money and fewer backup options face the biggest challenges.
On Thursday, state water officials are scheduled to trek to Phillips Station on Highway 50 south of Lake Tahoe to take snow measurements and officially announce the April 1 snowpack results. The site is one of more than 260 snow courses that factor into the monthly survey.
As of Wednesday, state snowpack was 60% of the historical average for the date. The southern Sierra stood at 42% of average, the central Sierra was at 64% of average, and the north state was at 67% of average.
The dry state of affairs, which has left California’s landscape ripe for burning, also carries the potential for more wildfire.
This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to hire 1,399 additional state firefighters, at a cost of $81 million. The expanded force at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection will work proactively to reduce combustible vegetation in high-risk areas as well as fight wildfires. They’re due by the end of May.
“It wasn’t quite the Miracle March that we were hoping for this spring,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jon Heggie. “We plan for the worst and hope for the best.”
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
April 01, 2021 at 05:47AM
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/climate/article/Little-snow-and-little-rain-mean-drought-dry-16068041.php
Little snow and little rain mean drought — dry and difficult months lie ahead for California - San Francisco Chronicle
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