California's Lean Snowpack Signals Deepening Drought Ahead

(Bloomberg) -- California’s snow levels have sunk to far below average after the U.S. state experienced its driest start to the year in more than a century.

The state’s overall snowpack sits at 63% of the average as of March 1 and isn’t expected to be much better by the end of this month, according to Sean de Guzman, a snow survey and water supply forecast manager with the California Department of Water Resources.

“Without any significant storms on the horizon, it is safe to say, we will end this year dry, and continue on to this ongoing drought,” de Guzman said Tuesday in a press conference.

California typically gets half its annual rainfall during the winter months of December, January and February. While several big storms helped build up the snowpack in December, it has mostly been dry since then. The situation has officials concerned about how California will manage its dwindling water supplies during the typically arid summer and fall.

January and February marked the driest of that two-month period in records dating back more than 100 years, according to de Guzman. California is currently completely covered by drought, according to the U.S. drought monitor.

California’s reservoir levels are also below average for this time of year and Lake Shasta, the biggest, is 37% full, de Guzman said. State forecasters don’t expect the snowpack to hold enough water to refill its main water reserves, he said.

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