In the wettest winter in California in 20 years, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains is 185 percent above average, says the Los Angeles Times, according to measurements by the California Department of Water Resources. In the Southern Sierras, the snowpack is even higher — at 201 percent above average.
The effects of so much precipitation are being felt by farmers who have had to without their usual water allotments for several years now because of drought. “[T]he 20 reservoirs that make up the Central Valley Project are so swollen with winter runoff that many growers will get all the water they requested this year,” says The San Francisco Chronicle.
“After the historic five-year drought, the snowpack and rain are a tremendous blessing to an agricultural industry hammered by the critical water shortage,” Ryan Jacobsen, chief executive of the Fresno County Farm Bureau told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Bureau of Reclamation is still waiting to announce how much water some counties will receive this year, a calculation that requires taking into account the needs of wildlife and fish, as well as farmers and urban districts. The bureau expects to make its final announcements by late March, says the Chronicle.