Sierra Nevada runoff into San Francisco Bay - Why has it come earlier recently?

Abstract

By the time most of the Sierra Nevada snowpack has melted each summer, freshwater outflows from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to San Francisco Bay are typically small, even after the wettest winters. These small delta outflows during the warm months (in comparison with the large flows of winter and spring) are overwhelmed by salty coastal waters, and the bay becomes more and more salty as summer progresses. Because longer lowflow seasons allow the bay to'become saltier, timing of the Sierra Nevada snowmelt and runoff, which are the source of the delta flows, has a profound influence on the salinity 0 the bay and, thus/ can affect its ecosystems (Peterson et al 1995).