Records show the statewide water content is at 134% of average to date, which is half of the water accumulated for the season. That's good news for farmers in the area.
“Without the water that we get from the hills, the snow pack, we really wouldn't see the strong agricultural economy we have here,” said John Chandler.
Chandler is a 4th generation farmer and says keeping an eye on snow survey levels is critical to determine water allocation for the farm.
“We can budget our irrigations based off of what we have to pump out of the ground versus what we can get from our irrigation districts,” said Chandler.
The snowpack provides water for about a third of the state and findings are off to a good start, but that could change in a matter of weeks.
We've seen it time and time again where we'll have a fairly good, in fact sometimes excellent November, December and then that's it,” said Frank Gehrke with the Department of Water Resources.
A bad snow season could mean a rough year for farmers.
“Our growers have to look at other avenues to make up that water and that can mean pulling off of ground water which really depletes the system, possible purchasing additional water from elsewhere,” said Gayle Holman with the Westlands Water District.
Randy McFarland with the Kings River Water District says the readings are still too preliminary.
“Last year was a below average year. We're hoping that turns around this year but
It's much too early to tell,” said McFarland.
Chandler remains optimistic about the season.
“If we keep getting rain at the levels we're getting now, I think we're looking at really
Good water here,” said Chandler.
The last time there was 100% water allocated was in 2006.
