Revived snowpack ensures summer water
San Francisco Chronicle / March 30, 2025
California is on track to finish the winter season with nearly as much snow as average, a notable achievement after a sluggish start and weeks of dry January weather. That leaves the state’s water fortunes bright — for the third straight year.
The April state snow survey, the critical end-of-season measure that typically reveals the peak snow accumulation in California’s mountains, is expected to show a healthy snowpack, particularly in the north, as the results started coming in Friday. Such conditions ensure at least a decent amount of runoff into rivers and reservoirs where snowmelt provides about a third of the water used by Californians.
Given that the previous two winters were also near or above average, water supplies are already formidable, with the state’s major reservoirs holding about 115% of what they typically hold this time of year. Experts don’t expect new restrictions on household water use come summer.
“We’re in about as good of shape as California gets,” said Letitia Grenier, director of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center. “(But) keep in mind that we can only store so much water in California, and we can run through it pretty quickly.”
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Long-range forecasts call for more snow next week.