<p>Start doing your rain dances, Californians. State scientists took manual samples in several South Lake Tahoe area locations and discovered that the amount of water in the snow pack is only about 20% of the average level, according to a Department of Water Resources press release.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“While we hope conditions improve, we are fully mobilized to streamline water transfers and take every action possible to ease the effects of dry weather on farms, homes and businesses as we face a possible third consecutive dry year,” Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin said in a press release.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">California water managers used strong words to describe the first Sierra Nevada snow pack survey of the year, saying it was “abysmal” and “dismal” in regards to the coming water year. The levels from this year's survey and the one from January 2012 are the lowest on record.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In a previous article, AndNowUKnow reported that California is experiencing extreme drought conditions in 95% of the state. Lack of precipitation over the last two years has been the cause. In fact, the desert landscape in Bakersfield actually had more rain than San Francisco, according to the Fresno Bee.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">However, the below average snow pack survey results are a further indicator of the impending water challenges of 2014. According to the state resource managers, snow pack usually provides around one third of California's annual water use.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“We have had two back-to-back dry years, and a third one will really increase the detrimental effects,” Ted Thomas, spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources, told the San Jose Mercury News.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Although water managers are preparing for the worst, many are still hopeful that big winter storms could turn a dry year into an average or wet one.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2014/010314.pdf" target="_new"> Department of Water Resources </a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_24840751/sierra-snow-low-california-dry-spell-lengthens?source=rss" target="_new"> San Jose Mercury News </a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/12/30/3690952/wacky-weather-bakersfield-gets.html#" target="_new"> Fresno Bee </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
