Though the El Niño storms brought levels of snow considered close to normal to the Sierra, it looks like the snowmelt is going to be about a quarter short of normal snowmelt.
The Department of Water Resources now projects that the mountains will produce about three quarters of normal runoff during the months of heaviest snowmelt, shorting the rivers and reservoirs that typically provide a third of California’s water — and cementing a fifth year of historic drought for the Golden State.