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EndlessHalftime t1_j5v2jln wrote

Reply to comment by EngagingData in Total Water Stored in California's Snowpack and Reservoirs [OC] by EngagingData

One pice I think you may be missing is that not all of the snowpack is useful. Snowpack in a reservoir’s watershed is basically additional water in the reservoir. But snowpack that does not melt to a reservoir is will just flow into the ocean.

So you’re adding water (damed) with snow (damed and undamed). It’s not something that’s really fair to add together.

Or that’s accounted for in the 2016 paper and I just misunderstood.

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EngagingData OP t1_j5v5sx5 wrote

You are correct that not all snowpack melt water can flow through a reservoir. I guess perhaps my wording is confusing. The snowpack is like another reservoir in that it stores water, but it's not exactly like a reservoir, in that all of that water will be captured.

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