Lake Tahoe's water level rose by over a quarter of a foot after atmospheric rivers swept across parts of California and Nevada in late January and early February, as the website SnowBrains detailed — and it has continued to rise. An atmospheric river is essentially a river in the sky carrying massive amounts of moisture from the tropics to the poles that unleash massive amounts of rain and snow when they reach land, according to the Department of Energy.
According to an Instagram post by the Tahoe Fund on Feb. 6, 12 billion gallons of water were added to the lake since the previous week. To raise such a large lake's water level by any amount takes a "staggering" amount, according to SnowBrains.
News of impending storms in the Sierra Nevada is not entirely unwelcome for some.
"We welcome these storm events for spring skiing and for our state water supply." John Rice, CEO of Ski California, told the Sacramento Bee.
Heavy snowfall isn't just a boon for recreational skiers; it's a critical part of the state's water management. According to the Department of Water Resources, California's snowpack provides about a third of its water needs. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that, after an exceptionally dry January, California's snowpack was at 86% of normal levels statewide Thursday. According to Gigi Giralte, a meteorologist with the weather service's Reno office, this latest storm could help bring the 2025 snowpack levels to "near normal," per the Bee.
Lake Tahoe is a critical water source and home to almost three hundred species of animals and over a thousand plants, according to California Tahoe Conservancy. It's known for remarkable clarity and depth but faces future challenges caused by extreme weather conditions. Other important lakes, such as Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona as well as Lake Urmia in Iran, have seen some recent reverses in fortune with improving water levels after years of depleting water levels.
So while the storm will have a positive impact on water management in the coming year, experts are still hopeful for more. Andrew Schwartz, director of UC Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, told the San Francisco Chronicle: "I think we need at least one more big storm system, if not two, to really get to above average for the state."
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