California Snowpack Melts, Leaving State Desperate for Water (1)

California’s mountain snowpack has dwindled to alarmingly low levels after a record dry start to the year, leaving the world’s fifth-largest economy mired in drought at the end of its traditionally wet season.

The state’s overall snowpack sits at 38% of the average for this time of year, Sean de Guzman, snow survey and water supply forecast manager for the California Department of Water Resources said Friday. Snow levels at Phillips Station, near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains, were at 4% of average for April 1, de Guzman said. While the season got off to a good start, with record snowfall in some ...