California officials say state faces another dry year with snowpack low in Sierras

California faces another dry year in spite of late winter storms that added to the snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas, the state Department of Water Resources says.

On April 1, the snowpack averaged 9.2 inches, an increase of 7.2 inches since the first measurement Jan. 3. But that is only about one-third of the average in April, when snow in the mountains is usually at its heaviest as the spring thaw begins.

The snowpack is at 23 percent of normal in northern California, 31 percent in the central Sierras and 38 percent in the south.

"This is dismal news for farms and cities that normally depend on the snowpack -- often called California’s largest reservoir -- for a third of their water. And reservoirs are not making up the difference," the department said in a statement.

Three of the state's major reservoirs, Lake Oroville in the central valley north of Sacramento, Shasta Lake north of Redding, and San Luis Reservoir south of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, are at less than half of their normal capacity for the time of year.

Last year was the driest in California since records have been kept. But the department said late storms in 2012 refilled reservoirs, creating a "comfortable cushion" that has now been drained.

[California Dept. of Water Resources]