Despite foreboding pictures of naked ski runs, water managers around Puget Sound and the state say it is too early to be spooked by skimpy snowpacks and stingy winter rains.

Crummy snowboarding in January does not automatically translate to empty reservoirs next summer. The lesson is about management and planning. As the experts say drought anxieties are premature, this is a good time to look ahead. Two companion bills in the state Legislature contemplate a new management regime for the main stem of the Columbia River.

Another bold look ahead is exploring additional water storage for the Yakima Basin at Black Rock, southeast of Yakima.

Precipitation in February and March — as snow or rain — can make up for meager rations now, and historically do. April through June is typically wet as well. In the meantime, the trick is managing water systems for all that is expected of them: water supplies, flood control, fisheries and hydropower.

For now, the numbers are grim. Snow levels in the Cedar River and Tolt River watersheds, the system that supplies Seattle Public Utilities' 1.3 million customers around the Sound, is 8 percent of normal. Tacoma reports similar numbers, below 15 percent of normal. The figures are reminiscent of 1977 and El Niño scarcity.

As a result, Seattle is holding more water behind the dam at Chester Morse Lake, about 5 feet above normal for this time of year.

Tacoma, which presently lacks Seattle's storage capacity, relies on the ground to soak up snow and rain in the Green River Watershed. Tacoma also has big, healthy well fields.

Both public utilities have seen dramatic drops in consumption, which always stretch available supplies. In Seattle, a strong conservation ethic after the 2001 drought combined with higher fees and tighter building codes to hold down use.

Tacoma also experienced slower growth in residential use, but especially sharp reductions by industrial users. Water-intensive businesses are gone.

A return to normal weather patterns is the key to a summer without drama for fish runs, power rates and household budgets — and important parts of the state economy.

Water managers are not particularly worried, but they are paying attention.

> (Tomorrow: Water plans for the Legislature)