Sierra Snow Survey – Lack of Rain – Climate Change and Drought Program March 15

A new Sierra Nevada snow survey on Thursday puts hard numbers on what is already plain to the eye: Winter has turned bone-dry in California.

Lack of rain a concern?

By: Chris Caskey, The Union Democrat

A dry January and February could make water supply this year in the Central Sierra Nevada similar to last year, when below-average snowpack and new regulations led to some tightening.

“We may not see a March miracle,” Glen Nunnelley, an associate engineer with Tuolumne County’s largest water purveyor, the Tuolumne Utilities District, told the district Board of Directors on Tuesday. “Right now, it’s very difficult to predict how it’s going to go.” Should the dry weather hold, Nunnelley and TUD Engineer Tom Scesa said the district will likely ask PG&E to help the district maximize its water supply for the summer. TUD purchases most of its water from Pinecrest and Lyons reservoirs through a contract with PG&E.

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Climate change and drought to be highlighted at Sierra water group’s Auburn meeting

UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling, state Department of Water Resources, Scripps Institution experts due to speak…

John Kingsbury, executive director of the association said “We are seeing warm weather, wildfires, diminishing snowpacks and droughts.  With this workshop, we’ll be able to draw attention to the Sierra Nevada mountain range…  “The Sierra Nevada mountain range is the largest natural winter storage facility but has been largely left out of the conversation,” Kingsbury said.