ADVISORY/California Department of Water Resources: Next Sierra Snow Survey is Thursday, February 27.News Editors ADVISORY...for Thursday (Feb. 27) SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2003 California Department of Water Resources History 1850-1875 California recognizes many types of water rights. These rights have developed with the State over time. Prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, California was part of Mexico. snow surveyors return February 27 (Thursday) to the snowpack snow·pack n. An area of naturally formed, packed snow that usually melts during the warmer months. snowpack 1. near Echo Summit for the third monthly Sierra snow-water measurement of the winter. With a lack of average snowfall the past two months, the prospect of a normal water-runoff year is starting to look dim. Reporters, photographers, and camera crews should be at the "Phillips Station" survey location by 11 a.m. The site is about 90 miles east of Sacramento. Take Highway 50 to the Sierra-at-Tahoe turnoff and park near the intersection intersection /in·ter·sec·tion/ (-sek´shun) a site at which one structure crosses another. intersection a site at which one structure crosses another. . Bring cross-country skis or snowshoes snowshoes, footgear enabling the wearer to walk on soft snow without sinking. A snowshoe consists of a light frame of tough wood or aluminum, roughly the shape of a large tennis racket, which is strung with caribou skin or other material and is attached to the shoe . Measurements such as these are performed monthly starting around January 1 throughout the Sierra to determine how much potential runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. will reach reservoirs in the spring. The April 1 measurement is considered the winter's total. Snow-water content is important in determining the coming year's water supply. The measurements help hydrologists prepare water supply forecasts as well as provide others, such as hydroelectric power hydroelectric power: see power, electric; water power. hydroelectric power Electricity produced from generators driven by water turbines that convert the energy in falling or fast-flowing water to mechanical energy. companies and the recreation industry, with much needed data. Snow-water monitoring is coordinated by the Department of Water Resources as part of the multi-agency California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. Surveyors from more than 50 agencies and utilities visit hundreds of snow measurement courses in the Sierra each month to gauge the amount of water in the snowpack. |
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