Most importantly, 2.5 inches of snow contained only the equivalent of 1 inch of water – a minimum of 4% of the April 1 average, according to Sean de Guzman, an engineer with the California Department of Water Resources. Snow usually accumulates in the Sierra Nevada during the winter, storing valuable water that later melts and drains into tanks in the spring. The California avalanche supplies 30 percent of the state’s water, according to the Department of Water Resources. Earlier Friday, the National Weather Service reported a worrying statistic: January-March this year was the driest such “huge margin” in 101 years of record keeping at three major California observatories. “During this period, California received only about half the amount of rainfall recorded compared to 2013, which resulted in the driest calendar year ever recorded,” de Guzman said. It’s a huge fuss over how this winter started on the West Coast. Climatologists were excited in December as they watched the snow accumulate that month. More than 17 feet of snow fell near the Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada, breaking a decades-old record. Then, starting in January, the rainfall “came down”. The snowfall across the country, which – at 6.5 feet – was above average in December, sank to 90% of normal. Just 9 inches of snow fell on the Donner Pass in January. Civil servants are preparing for the water shortage this summer. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Monday calling on local water services to implement their conservation plans and urging residents to control water use on their own. He complained to the State Council of Water Resources to consider banning the watering of ornamental grass in businesses and institutions, according to an announcement of his office, but it will not include residential lawns or green spaces in schools and parks. “While we have made historic investments to protect our communities, our economy and our ecosystems from deteriorating droughts throughout the West, it is clear that we need to do more,” Newsom said. And on March 18, the Ministry of Water Resources announced that it is reducing the amount of water it shares with municipalities by 10% as the state goes through its third year of drought. The state originally intended to give the various areas 15% of the water requested through the State Water Project, but will now reduce it to 5%. The State Water Project is a state-owned “multi-purpose water storage and delivery system” that distributes water supplies to different cities and counties, according to its website. “We are experiencing the shocks of climate change in real time with extreme fluctuations between wet and dry conditions,” department director Carla Nemeth said in a statement at the time. “We are continuing with a series of actions to balance the needs of endangered species, maintain water supply and supply water to millions of California.” CNN’s Stella Chan and Rachel Ramirez contributed to this report.
