Leaky Gauge Understates L.A.’s Rain : Drought: City really got 2.9 inches more than it thought, Weather Service says. Precipitation now put at 80% of normal for this time of year.

The National Weather Service said Friday that because of a leaking rain gauge at the Los Angeles Civic Center, the amount of rainfall the city has had this season has been seriously understated. The city has had nearly three inches more than announced, it said.

Thus, 10.16 inches of rain have fallen since July 1 at the Civic Center, the main recording station for the city, not 7.26 inches as stated this week, the weather service said.

Forecaster Dion Hamilton said the leak was discovered after officials noticed that a gauge at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, only blocks away, showed the higher amount. Nearby communities also seemed to record unusually higher rainfall amounts than the Civic Center.

Hamilton said that upon inspection it was clear that the Civic Center gauge was operating improperly. Now, he said, it has been fixed and future rainfall will be properly measured.

“All we have to do now is allocate the additional 2.90 inches to the various storms we’ve had,” Hamilton said.

Although the new figure shows that Los Angeles has recorded about 80% of its normal rainfall for this time of year, it does not mean that water supply prospects in Los Angeles have improved. Los Angeles gets most of its household and commercial water from outside the area.

With rain and snow tapering off in most of California and an expected northern storm late to arrive, water authorities cautioned Friday that the state remains in a precarious drought situation. Most delivery agencies, they said, will probably be cautious about relaxing rationing.

After several days of optimistic reports that the March storms would bring higher water allotments to urban areas, federal and state officials warned that Sierra and Cascade mountain range runoff prospects remain well below normal years.

The chief of data collection for the state’s snow survey, Frank Gehrke of the Department of Water Resources, cited the Sacramento River Index as an indicator that the runoff will probably be less than half of normal.

The latest estimate, taking all rain and snowfall into account and assuming that precipitation from now on would be normal for the year, is that the Sacramento River system will produce 7.9 million acre-feet of water between last Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, Gehrke said. This would be 42% of normal.

Gehrke said that the estimate on March 1, before the intense storm cycle began, was for 5.5 million acre-feet, or 29% of normal, and this has dramatically improved. But with the heavy rain season drawing toward a close, he said: “We’ve still got 2 million acre-feet to go to get out of a critical year category.”

This means that “there is definitely cause to remain cautious” in making changes in rationing plans, said Jennifer Persike, spokeswoman for the Assn. of California Water Agencies.

She said any change would probably mean holding off on more stringent rationing rather than a reduction in rationing levels.

“The Santa Clara Valley Water District had planned to go to 45% in their next rationing phase,” Persike said. “Now, they may cut that to 35% and perhaps they will delay implementing the next phase for a period.”

In Southern California, Duane Georgeson, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, said the MWD will reconsider its situation when its board meets April 9.

“We know for sure we will have to continue with some level of rationing, although it could be at a modestly reduced level from the 50% the board approved March 4,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kevin Wolf, director of the Northern California-based Friends of the River, said that Southern California should cut its use of water by 25% this year, regardless of how heavy rains are this spring. The reduction would allow reserves for next year to accumulate, he said.

“Twenty-five percent is something that can be handled,” Wolf said. “It’s not too Draconian.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, Congress voted Friday to allocate $25 million for drought-relief measures in California as part of a $4.7-billion “dire emergency” spending bill.

The amount--a compromise between a House-approved figure of $30 million and a Senate allocation of $20 million--may be used for such purposes as digging wells, building dikes or levees and erecting barriers against saltwater threatening freshwater supplies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region.

The money also may be used by the U. S. secretary of the Interior to buy water for fish and wildlife preservation and to develop drought-contingency plans.

Weather forecasts called for a Northern California storm to bring rain as far south as San Francisco by this morning and possibly bring showers to Southern California late tonight. The rainfall amounts are not expected to be as heavy as the storms of the past two weeks.

Times staff writer William J. Eaton contributed to this story from Washington.

THE CALIFORNIA DROUGHT: KEY WATER LEVELS

A look at the latest figures from key categories in the California water equation.

FORECASTED WATER RUNOFF FROM SNOW PACK: State water officials try to calculate in advance how much runoff is bound for reservoirs and rivers as the snow at high elevations melts and begins to trickle down from April through the month of July. These forecasts are based on snow levels measured on March 21. At right are important water collection areas in California.

Area % of average runoff for April-July Northern Sierra: 53% Central Sierra: 55 Southern Sierra: 72 Shasta Reservoir: 64 Feather River: 50 Owens Valley: 60

RESERVOIR STORAGE AROUND THE STATE (As of March 21)

Reservoir % of Average Storage % of Capacity 1 Clair Engle 56% 41% 2 Shasta 54 40 3 *Oroville 47 34 4 Folsom 54 32 5 New Melones 28 16 6 *San Luis 56 49 Total 49 35

* These reservoirs in N. California are among the main sources of water for Los Angeles.

PRECIPITATION THIS SEASON:

Inches since % of Station Oct. 1* Normal * A Eureka 16.98” 55% B Shasta Dam 25.77 56 C De Sabla 30.19 57 D Blue Canyon 29.56 60 E Sacramento 10.92 75 F San Francisco 10.03 61 G Yosemite 22.30 77 H Fresno 8.10 93 I Paso Robles 10.09 89 J Bakersfield 4.36 95 K Santa Barbara 13.36 92 L Los Angeles 10.16 79 M Blythe 1.78 85 N San Diego 7.66 96

* All figures from Oct. 1, 1990 to March 20, 1991 except for L.A., which extends to March 22, 1991.

Sources: Dept. of Water Resources, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation