GRASS VALLEY Mar. 30, 2009 - The mountain snowpack is holding 95 percent of average water content for this time of year, the Nevada Irrigation District reported on Monday (Mar. 30).
The near average levels follow a winter that began on the dry side but turned around with wet and snowy conditions in February and March, said NID Operations Supervisor Sue Sindt.
"We have adequate snowpack and reservoir storage and we will be making full deliveries of water to all of our customers this year," Sindt said. "It is still too early to predict if all of our reservoirs will fill."
In the annual April 1 snow survey, a key indicator of water availability for the coming year, NID snow surveyors found an average water content of 32.2 inches, which equals 95 percent of the 33.9-inch historic average.
One year ago, the April 1, 2008 snow surveys showed 100 percent of average water content. In 2007, NID measured just 53 percent of average water content.
In the official April 1, 2009 snow survey, conducted Mar. 26-27, NID snow surveyors measured snowpack depth and water content on six snow courses ranging in elevation from 4,850 feet to 7,800 feet.
The snow surveys showed NID's highest snow course, Webber Peak, at 7,800 feet, had 93.2 inches of snow with a water content of 35.5 inches. The English Mountain snow course (7,100 ft.) had 103.1 inches of snow with a water content of 44.7 inches.
Webber Lake (7,000 ft.) had 75.5 inches of snow with a water content of 32.1 inches. Findley Peak (6,500 ft.) had a snowpack of 68.4 inches and a 27.6-inch water content. Bowman Reservoir (5,650 ft.) had 49.2 inches of snow and a 20.9-inch water content.
At the lower division Chalk Bluff snow course (4,850 ft.) on the Deer Creek watershed, snow surveyors measured 21.7 inches of snow with a 9.7-inch water content. (The Chalk Bluff numbers are not included in the average.)
Annual precipitation (measured July 1-June 30) at Bowman Reservoir had reached 55.12 inches by Mar. 27, which is 96 percent of the Apr. 1 average.
NID's 10 reservoirs are currently holding about 184,800 acre-feet of water, which is 74 percent of capacity and 104 percent of the April 1 average. The district's storage capacity is 250,280 acre-feet (an acre-foot equals one acre covered one foot deep).
A member of the California Cooperative Snow Survey, NID conducts three official snow surveys each year. Results of the snow surveys are used to predict water availability locally and statewide.
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