Bureau of Reclamation Archives

Reclamation Increases Central Valley Project 2023 Water Supply Allocations

March 29, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Bureau of Reclamation by Reclamation California-Great Basin Region

The Bureau of Reclamation March 28, announced an increase in Central Valley Project 2023 water supply allocations. After below average precipitation in February, Reclamation announced a conservative initial water supply allocation for the CVP on Feb. 22. Additional atmospheric river systems have since boosted hydrological conditions and storage volumes, allowing for a more robust water supply allocation.

Since making initial allocations last month, Shasta Reservoir, the cornerstone of the Central Valley Project, has increased from 59% to 81%, and San Luis Reservoir, the largest reservoir south-of-Delta, from 64% to 97%. Record-breaking snowpack conditions currently exist in the Southern Sierra coupled with significant snowpack in the Central Sierra and Northern Sierra/Trinity.

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At Its Lowest Point in History, Lake Powell Sees First Growth in Months

March 23, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /KPNX TVby Hunter Bassler

Nearly 50 years after being filled, Lake Powell recently reached its lowest point.

Since then, the lake’s seasonal uptrend in water levels has begun.

Lake Powell hit a new low of 3520.46 feet on March 13, data from the Bureau of Reclamation shows.

However, the following eight days all saw more water flow into the lake than out of it, resulting in just under half a foot of rise in water levels. The increase is the first sustained gains the lake has seen since May of last year.

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Has Rain Helped Lake Mead Water Levels?

March 9, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Newsweekby Robyn White

A particularly wet season has swept across the southwestern U.S., a region that has suffered under a severe megadrought for over two decades. But what has this meant for Colorado River reservoir Lake Mead?

Storms of rain and snow have hit California particularly badly in recent months, and have spread into neighboring states like Nevada. Reservoirs like Lake Mead rely on seasonal snowmelt and rainfall.

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The Search for Solutions to Colorado’s Water Crisis

March 6, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /5280by Nicholas Hunt

In January, the same series of storms that left Denver’s streets covered in deep drifts also pushed Colorado’s snowpack north of 120 percent of its average for that point in the year. If your gauge was the number of ski runs open, it was great news. If your gauge was the state’s water supply, it was likely barely enough to maintain the status quo.

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California Reservoir Water Levels Before and After Winter Storm

March 2, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Newsweekby Pandora Dewan

After another week of severe winter weather, levels in California’s recovering water reservoirs have continued to rise, signaling good news for the state’s summer water supplies.

This follows weeks of considerable rain and snowfall in California since the start of 2023.

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‘A Nice Sign’: Big Rockies Snowpack May Boost Lake Mead

February 28, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Colton Lochhead

It’s not even March yet, but the mountains that feed the Colorado River already have seen more snow this winter than they normally would through an entire snow season.

And with some snow in the forecast, there’s still more time for that snowpack to grow.

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Lake Powell Drops to a New Record Low as Feds Scramble to Prop It Up

February 16, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /KUNCby Alex Hager

Water levels in Lake Powell dropped to a new record low on Tuesday. The nation’s second-largest reservoir is under pressure from climate change and steady demand, and is now the lowest it’s been since it was first filled in the 1960s.

Water levels fell to 3,522.16 feet above sea level, just below the previous record set in April 2022. The reservoir is currently about 22% full, and is expected to keep declining until around May, when mountain snowmelt will rush into the streams that flow downstream to Powell.

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Reclamation Hopes for 100 Percent Water Allocation

February 15, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Porterville Reporterby Charles Whisnand

With a much improved rainfall season and snowpack — at least for one year — the water allocation outlook for the area appears to be looking much better than in past years.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation has stated it’s requesting a 100 percent water allocation locally for Class 1 Friant contractors. In addition is stated it plans to request a 20 percent allocation for Class 2 contractors.

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Upper Colorado River States Land $125 Million for Pilot Conservation Program Amid Drought Crisis

February 14, 2023/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Colorado Sunby Michael Booth

Upper Colorado River Basin states have a new $125 million pot to rent and dry agricultural land and keep more water in the drought-plagued waterway, in a major expansion of a previous conservation pilot announced by the Biden administration’s Bureau of Reclamation.

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Opinion: Western States Play Game of Chicken Over Colorado River

February 8, 2023/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMattersby Dan Walters

You would have to be at least a septuagenarian to remember “Rebel Without a Cause,” a 1955 movie that starred James Dean and depicted the lives of aimless teenagers.

The film’s most memorable scene was a game of chicken in which two boys raced cars side by side toward a cliff and the first one to bail out was the loser. The “winner,” however, died when his car hurtled over the cliff.

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