California Water Alliance releases statement on first snow water-content measures

Visalia, CA – The first snow survey by the California Department of Water Resources revealed that the water content at Phillips Station in Sierra Nevada snowpack is at three percent of the normal average for this time of year.

While today’s reading is the first measurement of the water year, these numbers determine the depth of the snowpack and help California’s water managers plan the amount of water that will be available for cities, businesses and California’s farm and livestock food producers.

“Having come off one of the wettest years in California history, today’s 0.4-inch snow water-content reading is a clear reminder of the failures by California’s water managers to prioritize infrastructure projects — dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and groundwater recharge facilities — that capture water during the wet years and store it for the dry ones,” said Raul Riesgo, interim Executive Director of the California Water Alliance, or CalWA.  “In November 2014,  4-plus years ago, Californians voted and passed a water bond. Yet, to this date, not a single water infrastructure project has been appropriated, approved or funded by the state.”

“As the state regulators drag their feet on preparing California for our next predictable drought, the rest of California is left paying higher water bills, while dealing with water cuts through mandated water conservation measures in wet years as well as in dry,” Riesgo concluded.

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