Good signs for CA water supply in snowpack survey

The Sierra Nevada is looking pretty after weeks of heavy snowfall, and skiers and snowboarders aren't the only ones admiring the view.

California's water managers were optimistic after Tuesday's trek into the powdery wilderness to survey the state's frozen water supply.

The water content of the snow in the Sierra is nearly 200 percent of average for late December, according to measurements taken manually and electronically throughout the state.

"It's good," said Frank Gehrke, the chief snow surveyor for the California Department of Water Resources, after finishing the measurement at historic Phillips Station off Highway 50 south of Lake Tahoe. "It's definitely drier north and progressively wetter as we go central and then south, but it's an encouraging start."

The water content of the winter snowpack is a crucial gauge for water managers around the state. Up to 60 percent of the state's water is contained in the Sierra snowpack. When it melts in the spring and summer, the water is used to irrigate millions of acres of farmland and quench the thirst of California's 36 million people. About a quarter of the state's power comes from hydroelectric plants that count on heavy mountain runoff.

Big numbers

The water content Tuesday was 158 percent of normal at Phillips. That's almost twice as high as last year at this time. It is nevertheless lower than the overall average for both the northern and central Sierra, which measured 169 percent and 180 percent of normal, according to department statistics.

The wettest area is the southern Sierra, which is blanketed in heaping piles of ice and snow. The water content in the south is 261 percent of average, an extravagant profusion by any measure.

"It's going to certainly be a help to the city of Los Angeles because they get their water supply out of the Owens Valley," Gehrke said. "It will spill over to Kings, Kaweah and the Kern rivers, which will be looking pretty good because they are in the southern Sierra region. It's tremendous for places like Fresno and Bakersfield and for Central Valley agriculture."

Still, despite all the snow and rainfall in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet declared an end to the drought.

Sandy Cooney, the spokesman for the California Natural Resources Agency, said the emergency drought declaration - made by the governor in 2008 - will remain in effect until there is an executive order to end it.