Meadows’ Tuesday e-mail blast declared, “15 inches of new snow!” Welcome news for recreationists and the rest of us who enjoy the benefits of water for drinking and irrigating crops. Then came a sobering note from the folks who measure the snowpack.

Thursday’s sample found 73 inches at the measuring station at Timberline. Jon Lea of the United States Conservation Service also reported that the pack contained 29.0 inches of water, 67 percent of average.

When Lea measured the same spot three weeks ago, it was 68 inches deep with 24.2 inches of water, but at the time that stood at 84.8 percent of average; not exactly abundant but a healthy total and one of the better stations in the state.

“Since November it has been a dismal year for snow for northern Oregon Cascades,” Lea said.

All stations around Mount Hood reported Thursday that water content is at 59 percent of average. It’s not as bad as the Willamette basin, the worst in the state at 49 percent, nor as good as the eastern Oregon sites, all near 80-90 percent.

No one is panicking, for winter is still with us, and with a couple of solid storms the snowpack and water content could very well return to normal levels.

But the snowpack measurements are more than mere numbers. They are reminders of the fragility of our water resources, and the need to keep conservation practices in mind, no matter the season.