Small snow pack has some Valley businesses worried

FRESNO, Calif.

The Kings River Water Association says the water content in the Sierra snow pack is less than half of what it should be this time of year.

Lindy's Landing makes its money on water.

Last spring when campers were anxious to spend some time on the King's River, huge snow melts flooded them out. The water levels were nearly 2-hundred percent of normal.

"That first hill, everything was underwater all the way up to that well stand," Paula Tekus of Lindy's Landing said.

Today the campground is dry, even a little too dry, and that has Paula Tekus worried.

"Most of our reservations are in June, July and the first part of August and so if the river is way down then we're not going to get as many people coming in," Tekus said.

This year state water watchers are predicting a very dry summer.

"This year's water supply appears to be critically dry," Kings River Water Association spokesperson Randy McFarland said.

Critically dry after Kings River Water Association hydrologists spent Sunday measuring the snow pack in the Sierra mountains.

It's a survey McFarland says is a key indicator in determining how much water will be available to Central Valley farmers and businesses offering recreational sports.

"Not as bad as it was going to be before we had the big storm we had in March. That was a tremendous help, but it's still probably only going to run about 40 percent," McFarland said.

That means if April showers don't rain down on the Valley places like Lindy's Landing could see a lot less natural runoff this spring and summer and their peak season could be shorter.

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