Recent storms have doubled the snowpack in the Kings Watershed, but conditions are still below average as spring approaches.
The Kings River Water Association conducted the season’s second snowpack measurement in the Sierra Nevada mountains in eastern Fresno and Tulare Counties, finding drier conditions than last year.
By the numbers: The survey found the snowpack water content to be 16.7 inches, which is 76% of average for the date and 68% of average for the typical April 1 conditions – the date at which California’s snowpack is generally at its greatest.
- Snow depth averaged 51 inches this year, while the average winter produces a depth of 67 inches.
- The deepest snow was measured at Charlotte Ridge in the Kings River’s South Fork near Mount Gould. The snow depth there was 73.5 inches with a water content of 26.5 inches, which is 119% of average. The least snow depth was 10 inches at Ridge Trail in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park.
Why it matters: The kings River provides surface water to irrigation districts and water users in parts of Fresno, Tulare and Kings Counties.
- The California Department of Water Resources will use the snow survey to provide the Kings River water supply forecast.
What they’re saying: “After a desperately dry January, the Kings River received a few storms in the past month that doubled the snowpack,” said Kings River Watermaster Steve Haugen. “Regional water availability will depend on getting more snowpack in the Southern Sierra Nevada, since most of the storms this season have landed in the northern portions of California.”
- Andy Reising, the manager of the Department of Water Resources Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, said the regional disparity in storms can mask how far behind some regions of the state are in snowpack.
- “Water managers will need to consider not just the extreme swings through the winter and spring months, but also the big differences from watershed to watershed,” Reising said.
