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.