Average snowpack could prolong California water conservation

ECHO SUMMIT, California (AP) — A nearly average spring snowpack in the Sierra Nevada will likely prolong tough water conservation measures in drought-stricken California — although the restrictions could be loosened in some areas after an El Nino storm system drenched the northern half of the state this winter, officials said Wednesday.

A year ago, Gov. Jerry Brown stood on the same spot — then a dusty patch of ground with no snow — to announce that the dire drought required residents to cut back water use by 25 percent.

The melted snow provides roughly one-third of the water consumed by thirsty cities and farms in the nation's leading agricultural and most populous state.

Leaders of local water districts say the state needs to save the emergency declaration for the true emergencies, fearing they will lose credibility with the public the next time drought hits and they are asked to conserve.

Tracy Quinn, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the state should keep some conservation mandates in place in the south and make other measures permanent.