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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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A California water official has warned that the longer the Golden State goes without adequate snowfall this winter, the "harder it will be to catch up" to the levels needed to maintain California's reservoir water supply through the dry summer months.
The message came as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted its second snow survey of the season last week. Snow surveys are designed to measure water content from statewide snow depth, which is a crucial number for statewide water supply forecasts, given that snowpack provides about 30 percent of the state's water supply.
The new survey found that statewide, California's snowpack levels were in a worse state than they were during the first snowpack survey in early January. At that time, statewide snowpack was measured at 89 percent of average. Over the past three weeks, snowpack levels statewide have plunged to 59 percent of average.
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"After the storms at the start of the year gave way to warm, dry conditions, those early gains we saw have flatlined or slightly eroded," Andy Reising, the manager of the DWR's Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, said in a news release. "Recent California winters have seen this pattern of long, dry and warm stretches interrupted by intense storms. We are now two-thirds through what should be the best snow-producing months of the year. While there is still time for February and March to deliver additional snow, the farther into the season we get with below average conditions, the harder it will be to catch up."
A DWR spokesperson told Newsweek, "It is difficult to know with any certainty what the rest of the season will bring beyond the two-week forecast window." There is no major storm activity in the immediate forecast.
"Every dry week that California experiences will make it more difficult for the snowpack to catch up," the spokesperson said.
The concerning change strongly resembles the 2025 season. The first snowpack survey of last year showed the snowpack was 108 percent of average statewide in early January 2025. That level plunged to 67 percent of average by the end of the month after abnormally dry weather during what is typically the wettest month of the year.
With statewide snowpack at 59 percent of average, this year's measurement is even further from average than last year's at this time. However, last year the state experienced recovery throughout the late winter months, putting its statewide snowpack levels at 90 percent of average by the end of March 2025.
California Water Levels Remain High
Despite the concerning numbers, California's reservoirs remain above their average levels for this time of year.
"While the state has experienced a recent dry spell, major reservoirs statewide are currently 126 percent of average thanks to recent precipitation on top of three consecutive years of above-average snowpack conditions, as well efforts by California to capture and store as much water as possible," DWR said in the news release.
All of California's major reservoirs tracked by the DWR are above their average level for this season, aside from Castaic Lake in Southern California, which is 98 percent of its historical average.
Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, California's largest and second largest reservoirs, are at 122 percent of historical average and 136 percent of historical average, respectively.
Is California Still in Drought?
Lake Shasta, Lake Oroville and other major reservoirs in California reached concerningly low levels during the summer of 2022 amid a yearslong drought that parched the state.
In mid-January, California completely emerged from drought for the first time in 25 years, with none of the state classified as in drought or even "abnormally dry," which is the first level of tracking drought conditions.
According to the map, California is the only state in the U.S. not considered "abnormally dry" or under any drought conditions.
Drought conditions can change quickly. The next snowpack survey is scheduled for March 2.
Update 2/3/2026, 1:27 p.m. Eastern time: This article was updated to include additional information.
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