[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 3/4/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

March 4, 2008

 

2. Supply

 

Good news from snowpack measurement

Visalia Times Delta – 3/4/08

By Hillary Meeks, staff writer

 

The water content of the Tulare Lake Basin snowpack has increased by 7.1 inches since Feb. 21, according to manual readings.

 

The measurements were taken over the weekend by the California Department of Water Resources.

 

The snowpack contains 29.1 inches worth of water. Runoff will feed the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers, said Steve Nemeth, a water supply forecaster for the department. The snowpack held 12.2 inches of water at this time last year, he said.

 

Since Feb. 21 — when the snowpack was 85 percent of the seasonal average — large storms dumped plenty of snow above Tulare County, he said. The snowpack now represents 128 percent of the seasonal average, Nemeth said.

 

If the snow starts to melt before April 1, he said, there's a possibility that reservoirs won't be able to contain the runoff. Because thunderstorms remain a threat through March, extra space must be left in the reservoirs to contain storm runoff and prevent flooding downstream, Nemeth said.

 

"The longer the snowpack sticks around," he said, "the better chance we have at catching it." #

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/NEWS/803040332/1002/NEWS01