Inyo County
Water Department
Water Department
by Sally Manning,
Vegetation Scientist
July 2005
Inyo County Water Department has collected precipitation data at seven rain gauges in Owens Valley since 1993. Precipitation totals for Water Department rain gauges appear in Table 1. For the 2004 water year (beginning October 1, 2003, and ending September 30, 2004), precipitation measured at the gauges averaged 3.1 inches, and 92% of the precipitation fell between October 1 and April 15, prior to the 2004 growing season.
Table 1. Precipitation (in inches) measured in ICWD rain gauges by water year (October 1 of the previous year through September 30 of the year noted).
| Rain Gauge | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| RG-1, east of Fish Slough | 5.94 | 3.40 | 7.60 | 4.51 | 4.66 | 6.09 | 1.82 | 1.32 | 2.26 | 0.86 | 5.41 | 2.75 |
| RG-2, near Laws | 6.29 | 3.62 | 7.80 | 4.55 | 4.91 | 7.32 | 2.50 | 1.73 | 3.27 | 1.28 | 5.49 | 2.96 |
| RG-3, southeast of Bishop | 7.21 | 4.34 | 8.87 | 4.29 | 6.85 | 9.98 | 2.39 | 2.93 | 4.63 | 1.24 | 6.57 | 3.59 |
| RG-4, south of Big Pine | 8.29 | 4.24 | 9.76 | 6.85 | 8.33 | 8.99 | 1.83 | 2.56 | 3.34 | 1.59 | 7.23 | 4.09 |
| RG-5, near Goose Lake | 6.83 | 2.15 | 7.07 | 5.64 | 7.02 | 7.47 | 1.98 | 0.80 | 2.46 | 0.75 | 7.47 | 2.58 |
| RG-6, near Blackrock | 9.00 | 2.95 | 8.67 | 7.07 | 8.68 | 10.01 | 1.88 | 1.59 | 2.91 | 1.28 | 10.38 | 4.01 |
| RG-7, west of Union Wash | 5.00 | 1.61 | 4.88 | 2.14 | 4.35 | 5.06 | 1.61 | 1.54 | 3.91 | 0.51 | 5.62 | 1.77 |
| Water Year Average | 6.94 | 3.19 | 7.81 | 5.01 | 6.40 | 7.85 | 2.00 | 1.78 | 3.25 | 1.07 | 6.88 | 3.11 |
| Average precipitation occurring Oct 1 - Apr 15 ("Winter") |
6.85 | 1.81 | 6.76 | 4.45 | 4.67 | 5.81 | 1.48 | 1.17 | 2.60 | 0.97 | 6.38 | 2.87 |
| percent in winter | 98.7 | 56.7 | 86.6 | 88.8 | 73.0 | 74.0 | 73.9 | 65.7 | 79.9 | 90.4 | 92.7 | 92.4 |
*Current precipitation data can be accessed on the Current Conditions page