Bay Area water districts say dismal snow survey results a warning sign but not yet urgent

The early Sierra snowmelt and subsequent April 1 snow survey did not produce the results anyone wanted to hear.

But sitting on the shore of a full San Pablo Reservoir, Nelsy Rodriguez, with the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), says this isn't a sound-the-alarm moment.

"Several years ago, when we were in drought, the water level was much lower. You could see rings of sand," she said. "East Bay MUD is in a good position with our water supply. We're currently at 84% full – total system storage – that's above average for this time of year, despite having a very hot March."

That said, she says, EBMUD, which serves about 1.4 million customers in the East Bay, is closely monitoring how the snowmelt behaves.

"It's something that's out of our control – How much rain and snow will actually come down," she said. "We're pretty vigilant at this point in the water year to make sure that we are capturing everything."

In the South Bay, leaders at Valley Water offered a similar sentiment. That agency serves around 2 million people in Santa Clara County.

"I'll call it a warning sign," said Aaron Baker, the Chief Operating Officer of the Water Utility Division. "This is a year where we're doing fine, but if this continues, these are how droughts begin."

About half of Valley Water's supply is imported, says Baker, and the snowpack plays a key role in the calculation.

"Very low snowpack survey numbers have translated into a lower imported water allocation, which means we have lower imported water coming in, which means we have to rely on our groundwater a little bit," he said.

Luckily, he says they're faring quite well there, because of ample rainfall the previous two years.

"We have excellent groundwater levels. What we're going to need to do with these lower imported water allocations is lean on the groundwater a little bit," he said. "If these conditions continue into next year, and next year is drier, then yes, we'll need to amplify our conservation measures and maybe take additional actions in these future years to make sure that we have a water supply."

April is projected to be another month with below-average precipitation.

Even though neither agency says the region is headed towards another drought, they say people should take steps to conserve water.

"Drought is a reality in California. It's not something that will likely ever go away," Rodriguez said. "Where people can make adjustments to make sure that in the hottest of hot months, they're not musing more water than they need to be, that's what we encourage."