that snow melt water doesn’t flow to the pacific.
It doesn’t flow to the gulf of california via the colorado.
where it looks like it just flows to the desert and dries up.
but that can’t be. what happens to all the snow melt on the east side of the sierra nevadas since most of it doesn’t flow south to the colorado river
Most of the snow melt water in the Truckee/Tahoe area runs into the Truckee River into Reno and beyond.
South of there, from the town of Lee Vining in California south, 60% of the Sierra Nevada snowmelt water travels down the creeks and Owens River to the LA Aqueduct, and then several hundred miles south to the City of Los Angeles.
“but that can’t be. what happens to all the snow melt on the east side of the sierra nevadas since most of it doesn’t flow south to the colorado river”
This entire region basically from the sierras to Utah is called the great basin. There are no rivers that go to the ocean. All water that enters this entire region leaves only via evaporation or percolation.
I think a good part of the water that flows down the east side of the Sierra Nevada ends up in Los Angeles.