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Despite the fierce winter storm that brought an avalanche of snow to the Sierra Nevada last week, water officials say the state’s snowpack is far behind its desired level. Before the storm, comparisons were being made to record-breaking dry years.

So why isn’t there more panic about a potential drought?

The state’s reservoir levels and drinking water supply are in good shape, largely because last year was exceptionally wet, said Dave Rizzardo, of the California Department of Water Resources. Last week’s storm nearly doubled the snowpack — and although that brought it up to only 34 percent of what’s typically desired by April 1, it has eased comparisons to the record lows in 1977 and 2015. (The state gets about 30 percent of its fresh water from the snowpack each year.)

“It still is what it is, but it’s a nice boost. It doesn’t get us necessarily out of a horrible snowpack condition but there are more storms that could chip away at that deficit,” Mr. Rizzardo said. “This could be a worse conversation if last year wasn’t so wet.”

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at U.C.L.A., warned that the current water levels don’t tell the full story about the year. Despite last week’s snowstorm, which he said effectively doubled the amount of available water stored in the snowpack, the low yearly precipitation could have secondary ecological impacts and wildfire risks.