Gavin Newsom surveys California snowpack, unveiling water plan for an uncertain future

Surrounded by a blanket of snow, Gov. Gavin Newsom donned snowshoes Tuesday to observe officials surveying this year’s snowpack and unveil a new California water resources plan that factors in climate realities.

The snowpack across the state was measured at a little above average — a rarity after recent swings between extreme drought and last year’s record snowpack at double the historic average.

But the governor warned Californians not to get comfortable as climate change makes the Sierra reserves less reliable. State water officials forecast that water supply from melting snow will shrink by 10% in two decades.

“There’s nothing normal about this average year,” Newsom said from Phillips Station, located along Highway 50 near Echo Summit. The Department of Water Resources held its final in-person survey of the current water year at the site. “The hots are getting a lot hotter, the dries drier and that requires us to have a sophistication of approach.”

The key metric of snow water equivalent was measured Tuesday at a statewide average of 28.6 inches – 110% of normal for April 1, state water officials said. It marks a strong comeback from earlier in the season.

During the previous monthly snow survey, on Feb. 29, state officials measured statewide snow water equivalent at 18 inches – 80% of normal for the start of March and 70% of the April 1 average. Major storms in early March, including blizzard conditions in the Lake Tahoe area, helped boost the snow level.

“Average is awesome,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources. “But average may be becoming less and less common of a feature for snowpack in California.”

Climate change is leading to rising temperatures, scientists say, which will lead to more of the atmosphere’s water falling as rain rather than snow. Higher temperatures also lead to faster snowmelt, diminishing the snowpack.

As for this year, Nemeth said, weather patterns over the next couple of months will determine how much of today’s snow turns into water supplies this spring and summer.

“We’re in a good place right now,” said engineer Andy Reising. “We refer to the April 1 metric because it’s typically our peak snowpack, even though the climate is changing that slowly.”

‘Not victims of fate.’ Newsom shares updated water plan

Newsom’s newly released Water Plan Update 2023 is one of several water related policy strategies that he has rolled out in recent years and framed as part of the state’s fight against climate change.

The governor also promised to focus on infrastructure projects such as building the Sites Reservoir and vowed to move ahead with the Delta Conveyance Project, a tunnel the state has proposed for decades to carry water beneath Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

The 300-page plan, which is required every five years by state law, “focuses on three intersecting themes: addressing climate urgency, strengthening watershed resilience, and achieving equity in water management,” according to the Department of Water Resources.

It calls for ecosystem restoration and to improve resilience of “natural infrastructure” such as aquifers and floodplains along rivers and streams, as well as accelerating efforts to address historical inequities for the thousands of Californians who lack access to clean drinking water.

The plan also calls for collaboration and partnerships with Native tribes, and the “incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and practices.”

If the 1950s and 1960s were marked by a period of water infrastructure expansion infrastructure expansion in California, the report found, the 2020-25 era is marked by climate crisis and social change.

“I want people to know that we are not victims of fate,” Newsom said. “We recognize the world we’re living in. We recognize the trend lines into the future and we’re navigating them.”

Snowpack has historically made up around two-thirds of California’s total water supply. State scientists have surveyed snow since 1941 as a key tool to forecast future supply for farms and cities.

Several times a year, state water officials manually measure the depth and weight of snow at Phillips Station and other sites.

Water estimates began to incorporate remote electronic sensors in the 1990s, with aerial surveys launching in recent years. Early April is considered a key indicator of what’s to come.

Tuesday’s manual survey at Phillips Station showed snow water equivalent of 27.5 inches, which is 113% of average for the station this time of year.

Department of Water Resources snow sensor data on Tuesday showed the northern Sierra Nevada at 124% of average, the central Sierra at 107% and the southern Sierra at 100%.

California is the only western state that performs its own snow survey, said J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, researcher for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

In a blog post, he said officials should also measure how reservoirs are increasingly misaligned with the state’s climate patterns because they’re situated where snowfall is becoming more scarce.

State water officials on Tuesday said statewide reservoir levels are now at 116% of average.

Only a “comprehensive reevaluation and redesign of California’s water infrastructure” will ensure the state is capable of meeting the demand for water amid this historical shift.

“A future with reduced snow is imminent,” he wrote. “California state and local agencies need to plan for it.”