Inyo County
Water Department
The Monitor 1998
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Owens Valley Precipitation
Sally Manning, Vegetation Scientist
1998 was a wet year. ICWD staff continued to collect precipitation data at
seven rain gages located in the Owens Valley during the 1998 water year (October 1997 -
September 1998). Average precipitation during the period was 7.85 inches, slightly greater
than the average for 1995 (Table 4). Because these are relatively new rain gage stations,
it is not possible to compare the data directly to a long-term average for the sites at
which they are located. At the Bishop airport (not shown in Table 4), the long-term
average precipitation was 5.34 inches; the water year total for 1998 was 9.77 inches and
the winter amount was 7.57.
| Rain Gage |
Precipitation
(inches) |
RG-1, east of Fish Slough |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
| 5.94 |
3.40 |
7.60 |
4.51 |
4.66 |
6.09 |
| RG-2, near Laws |
6.29 |
3.62 |
7.80 |
4.55 |
4.91 |
7.34 |
| RG-3, southeast of Bishop |
7.21 |
4.34 |
8.87 |
4.29 |
6.85 |
9.98 |
| RG-4, south of Big Pine |
8.29 |
4.24 |
9.76 |
6.85 |
8.33 |
8.99 |
| RG-5, near Goose Lake |
6.83 |
2.15 |
7.07 |
5.64 |
7.02 |
7.47 |
| RG-6, near Blackrock |
9.00 |
2.95 |
8.67 |
7.07 |
8.68 |
10.01 |
| RG-7, east of Union Wash |
5.00 |
1.61 |
4.88 |
2.14 |
4.35 |
5.06 |
| Rain Gage Average |
6.94 |
3.19 |
7.81 |
5.01 |
6.40 |
7.85 |
| Average Precipitation
Occurring Oct.1-Apr.15 ("Winter") |
6.85 |
1.81 |
6.76 |
4.45 |
4.67 |
5.81 |
Table 4. Precipitation totals recorded at each of the
county rain gages for water years 1993 through 1998. A water year runs from October 1
through September 30.
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