West’s ‘Frozen Reservoir’ Running On Empty: What That Means For CA

Historic snowfall was recorded in the southeast last month, but out west, a snow drought is underway, worrying many water experts.

Unusually warm winter temperatures across California have meant little snow. As of the end of January, the snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada was considerably smaller than usual, at 59% of average for this time of year, and the forecast shows no significant winter storms in the next 10 days.

Instead of skiing, the Golden State's winter buffs are hiking and biking this season.

In addition to winter sports, California relies on the Sierra snowpack's spring melt for about 30% of its water on average. The runoff serves as a primary water source for millions of residents, irrigates agricultural fields, and fills streams and reservoirs.

For now, the Golden State has ample water due to good rainfall — major reservoirs are at about 124% of their average levels.

But those reservoirs need annual replenishing.

"We are now about halfway through the typically wettest part of the year," Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, told the Los Angeles Times. "We still have February and March, but each dry week we have will make it more difficult to catch up."

Spring-like conditions are not helping.

"Washington, Oregon, California and many Western states had their warmest December ever on record," Philip Mote, a climate scientist at Oregon State University, told NBC News. "And so, the torrential rains that we had with the atmospheric river and the flooding and damage from too much water — none of that stayed in the mountains."

Lack of snowpack is even more dire in other western states. Utah has only about one-third of its normal snowpack for the start of February. It's the most dismal winter ever recorded, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

"That’s of concern to all of us, because snow does more for us than provide ski slopes," Jordan Clayton, supervisor of National Resources Conservation Service’s Utah Snow Survey, told the SLT. "It’s critical to us as a state."

Colorado’s snowpack is "the lowest on record for this point in the season," Peter Goble, the assistant state climatologist of Colorado, told NBC News.

Businesses that rely on snow are hurting. Mountain resorts in Oregon are among the hardest-hit areas. Last year at this time, Mt. Bachelor had 109 inches of snow at its base; this year it has 27 inches.

"We are struggling with the lack of snow,” Presley Quon, a spokesperson for Mt. Bachelor, told The New York Times. “It’s been a really rough season for ski resorts.”

Warm, dry weather melted much of New Mexico’s snowpack, meteorologist Jennifer Shoemake said at a Monday briefing by the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office. Snow levels are below 50% of the median levels in the state.

The federal government is backing up the states' claims.

"At least one ground-based monitoring station in every major western watershed recorded the lowest [amount of water stored in the snowpack] in at least 20 years on January 26," according to a statement from the NASA Earth Observatory.

Water experts are concerned that diminished snowpack could exacerbate the Colorado River's dwindling flow. Some 70 percent of the river's flow comes from snow.

Western states have been negotiating management of the Colorado River for years, and the snow drought makes the situation even more pressing. Policymakers from seven states met Friday to discuss a new water-sharing agreement, but they remain at an impasse. Water from the river serves about 40 million people.

It’s difficult to attribute the snow drought to climate change alone, but computer simulations that forecast weather suggest that the conditions are not a one-off.

"The predictions are we will get less snow because the precipitation base will be rain rather than snow, and the line at which snow accumulates will keep creeping up,” McKenzie Skiles, a snow hydrologist at the University of Utah, told The New York Times.

This year is still young, though. Cold storms often arrive in spring.

"Weird things can happen, so let’s hope weird things happen," Kathryn Sorensen, director of research for the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, told the New York Times. "Otherwise it’s going to be pretty awful."