March 19, 2018 – Nevada Irrigation District (NID) water storage is at 135% of average as of last Wednesday. The latest numbers put the district’s reservoir storage at 238,261 acre feet – over 60,000 AF above the average 175,000 AF at this time of year.
Reservoirs are filled to 88% capacity, according to the figures provided by NID.
Next week, NID will conduct another snow survey which should yield better results than the March 1st survey where the snowpack was at just 27% of average. Those measurements were taken before significant snowfall occurred.
With reservoirs close to capacity, the district will closely monitor the forecasted atmospheric river slated to dump significant rain and snow over the area starting Tuesday.
According to the National Weather Service in Sacramento, “the period of heaviest precipitation and gusty winds is currently projected to be Wednesday through Thursday. Snow levels will start out initially rather high, but colder air will arrive late this week, and another round of heavy snow is expected for late this week.” 2-6 inches of rain and 12-48 inches of snow are forecast to accumulate between late Tuesday and Friday.