State water experts will conduct the third snow survey of the season today in the Sierra.

Officials from the California Department of Water Resources will measure the water content of the snow at Phillips Station, along Highway 50 about 90 miles east of Sacramento.

Snow depths and water content results should be available by 1 p.m. The survey is the third of five measurements that give water planners an estimate of spring snow melt that will end up in reservoirs.

Snowpack water content is especially important this year because the state has struggled through three years of drought.

Electronic sensors show that the snowpack's water content is at 106 percent of normal.

A telling measurement will occur April 1 when the snowpack water content is again measured. April 1 is the usual date for optimum snowpack, a news release from the water resources department states.