Study: Calif. Snowpack Lowest in 500 Years

FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ) — Six months after Governor Jerry Brown stood in a snowless Sierra Nevada meadow and ordered unprecedented water restrictions due to low snowpack, researchers say it was much worse than many had believed.

According to a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists estimate that the recent snowpack, was the lowest it’s been in more than 500 years.

That snow helps to maintain California reservoirs, and provides roughly one-third of the state’s water.

Experts say they were expecting 2015 to be extreme, but not like this.