California Starts New Year With Below-Average Snowpack: Report

Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada near South Lake Tahoe—which supplies about 30 percent of the state’s water—measured 30 percent of average, officials reported.

(L-R) Sean de Guzman, manager of the California Department of Water Resources Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, Anthony Burdock and Jordan Thoennes, both water resources engineers in the unit, prepare to conduct the first media snow survey of the 2024 season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento off Highway 50 in El Dorado County. Calif., on Jan. 2, 2024. Xavier Mascareñas/California Department of Water Resources

California’s snowpack in the Sierra Nevada near South Lake Tahoe—which supplies about 30 percent of the state’s water—measured only 30 percent of average in the first snow survey of the season, water officials reported Jan. 2.

The state’s water resources department conducted its first snow survey Tuesday at Phillips Station, located in El Dorado County near South Lake Tahoe. Researchers recorded 7.5 inches of snow depth at the site, and a snow water equivalent of 3 inches, which is 30 percent of average for the location, according to the department.