California is beginning 2025 with a solid start to the winter snowpack, but more storms are needed to keep the state’s water supplies on track.

The Department of Water Resources conducted its first snow survey of the season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Thursday. The manual survey recorded 24 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of nine inches.

As spring approaches and the snowpack melts, the water runs off into local streams and rivers, then state-run canals and dams for storage and use. Experts say that nearly a third of the water used in California annually comes from the snowpack.