We may not see many White Christmases (sorry Bing Crosby) here in Southern California, but we can still be walking in a winter waterland, all thanks to snowmelt. Accumulated winter snow, called snowpack, becomes a major source of drinking water for us Southern Californians. For us, most of our snowmelt-provided water comes from the Sierra Mountains, but some of our tap water could have come from as far away as Colorado Rocky Mountains. This imported water is then blended with available local water sources to round out our trusted tap water supply.  

How much water are we really talking about here? I’m glad you asked. Snowpack volumes in the Sierras of California, which as noted is one of our greatest water providers, can average 18.6 cubic kilometers a year. That’s 4.9 trillion gallons of water! Next time you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, let each snowflake remind you of a major source of your tap water supply. 

As you can imagine, a snowflake’s journey from mountaintop to faucet is no easy process. During the spring season, melting snow from the Sierra Nevadas makes its way down the mountains and into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, otherwise known as the Delta. Some of that snowmelt is sent south, pumped over the Tehachapi Mountains, which is the highest place on earth where water is manually pumped. No small feat of engineering. And the water is then finally sent to the Santa Ana River Watershed and the homes of just about everyone living between Bakersfield and Santa Monica (to the east and west), and Santa Barbara and San Diego (to the north and south). Similarly, snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains travels to the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam, where it’s sent to people living in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. 

Being that as much as 75% of water supplies in western states come from snowmelt, you may be wondering what safety measures are taken to test the quality of water before it reaches your home. If you’re familiar with the water world, you may have heard the word PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals) before. PFAS can be found in many of the everyday products that we use, including non-stick cookware, firefighting foams, dental floss and stain resistant household coatings on carpets and upholstery. From time to time, it’s also found in groundwater and surface water. Known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are very hard to breakdown naturally. Don’t let this scare you, though. SAWPA and its partner agencies are on it. 

Thanks to improvements in technology and investments by local water agencies, water agencies can detect and treat substances, such as PFAS, at a faster rate. The ways that PFAS in our water supply can be removed or treated include granulated activated carbon, reverse osmosis or ion exchange; removing affected water sources from service; or blending affected water with unaffected water supplies. In watered down terms, you can trust your tap water because water agencies rigorously test to meet the national standards for water quality. If you need some extra reassurance, you can read all about contaminant levels in the annual Water Quality Report. 

So, next time you’re shredding the slopes or catching snowflakes on your tongue, remember that snow plays an essential role in providing tap water to your home. 

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