If California has yet
another dry winter that could spell water shortages throughout the state in
subsequent years. "If
things are about the same next year, we could be looking at tight times,"
said Frank Gehrke, chief of the state Department of Water Resources' Snow Survey. The lack of water is
also a concern for fire officials as this could indicate an early start to fire
season this year with drier than normal conditions, at an earlier time of year.
Officials had hoped that a wet
February would carry over into this month and increase the snowpack, but the
average actually dropped since the last survey on March 2. At that time,
the statewide average was 63 percent of what is considered normal for the time
of year. Gehrke said a storm on Monday, which added about 2 inches to the
snowpack, helped - but not by much. "Instead of seeing an increase of 5 or 6 inches in March, we lost 8
or 9 inches," Gehrke said. "That's a pretty bleak month."
The snowpack is the state's largest water source for drinking and irrigation.