With March producing only half the average of high country precipitation, the overall water content for the snowpack in the Nevada Irrigation District continues to drop. It’s now at 72-percent of the historical average, compared to 79-percent a month ago. But overall reservoir storage is about the same from the previous month, at 81-percent. However, NID’s Water Resources Superintendent, Thor (Tore) Larsen, says higher than average demands are expected, heading into the irrigation season….

But we’re still better off than the Northern Sierra, where the April survey showed it was 62-percent of normal. It was just 59-percent statewide. Normally, the April survey measures the snowpack when it is the deepest and has the highest water content, which is a key component of the water supply forecast for later in the summer…

Larsen says NID will utilize the latest data to complete water availability assessments for the irrigation season. This is the second straight season of below-normal precipitation.