California Snow Pack Not Enough To Impact Drought

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — It's been a wet December, but drought-stricken California needs more rainfall to build up the snow pack, according to state experts.

The state Department of Water Resources conducted the winter's first manual measurement of the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada Tuesday, and found that it is only half what it would be in an average year.

The snow pack holds future water for both consumers and agriculture.

Doug Carlson, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources, says December's rainfall was nice, but it's not enough, KNX 1070's Bob Brill reports.

"The problem with that recent storm that you mentioned here in December is that it blew in on fairly warm weather and so what precipitation did fall didn't fall as snow, it fell mostly as rain," Carlson said.

While Tuesday's snow survey found more snow than last year, it is still not enough to impact the drought.

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