Is it Enough to Defeat the Drought?
View of a snow-capped Mt. San Antonio from Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park in Riverside, CA. Photo credit: Alex Chrystal
California’s snowpack is now over 136% of normal and rising, with more snow expected this weekend. This is quite a jump from the beginning of the year when the State’s snowpack was at 67%.
The atmospheric rivers responsible for all this heavy snow and rainfall have been a welcome reprieve for a state long mired in serious drought. Once depleted water supplies are slowly but surely being replenished.
Despite the fact that much of the state is currently out of drought, it is important to note that groundwater basin replenishment from snowpack takes time. According to the California Department of Water Resources, we can expect the Sierra Nevada snowpack to replenish around 30% of California’s water needs once the snowpack starts melting in the warmer months. For this reason, and the fickleness of California’s wet seasons, it’s important that the state continues its conservation efforts.