Amador County – The California Department of Water Resources’ first snow survey of the season on Tuesday found snow levels at 21 percent of the date’s average, but said that the State Water Project was in good shape with storage lake levels high thanks to near-record snow and rain last year.

Department of Water Resources public information officer Ted Thomas said “2011 illustrates how weather-driven water supply conditions can dramatically change. The initial 2011 estimate was that the State Water Project would be able to deliver 25 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet requested. As winter took hold and storms swept the state, a near-record snowpack and heavy rains resulted in deliveries of 80 percent of requests in 2011.”

He said the final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007. The last 100 percent allocation of water to demand in the State Water Project was in 2006. Thomas said it is “difficult to achieve even in wet years because of Delta pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish.”

“Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir with a capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet, is still 72 percent full thanks to last winter’s heavy storms. That is 114 percent of average for the date,” Thomas said. “Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s (CVP) largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is 68 percent full (106 percent of average).

“San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important reservoir south of the Delta, is 95 percent full (137 percent of average for the date). San Luis, with a capacity of 2, 027,840 acre-feet, is an important source of water for both the SWP and the CVP when pumping from the Delta is restricted or interrupted.”

Thomas said “mountain snow that melts into reservoirs, streams and aquifers in the spring and summer provides approximately one-third of the water for California’s households, farms and industries.

“The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs.

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