Officials say they expect to release some water from the Oroville Dam’s main spillway on Wednesday. The operation comes as a strong atmospheric river sets its sights on Northern California.
A California judge says a 60-year-old law does not give the state permission to borrow the billions of dollars it would need to build a large water project, a decision that could threaten a key source of funding for a controversial plan backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to build a massive underground tunnel that would reroute a big part of the state’s supply.
The controversial Delta Conveyance Project took a major financial hit this week, after a Sacramento County judge ruled California can’t issue bonds to fund the project.
Recent Sierra storms have helped to build up California’s snowpack after a very slow start this winter. According to data published on the Department of Water Resources’ California Data Exchange Center, the statewide snowpack is now at 42% of the average for the date. On Jan. 1, the water content in the snow was just 28% of the average.
Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir, stands at 113% of the historical average and only 52 feet from being full, thanks to the gift of rain the state is receiving so far this winter.
Unlike early 2023, when nonstop atmospheric river storms built a deep Sierra Nevada snowpack, replenished depleted reservoirs and flooded parts of California, snowfall and rain is sharply diminished so far this year. But state water officials say there is plenty of winter left to accumulate more snow and precipitation.
This week may seem unusually cold for Southern California, but climate scientists say December 2023 was the month that truly had extraordinary temperatures – on the warm side.
The California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) issued its first snowpack report of 2024. It isn’t great. The snow in the Sierra Nevada is roughly 25% of the state’s average for this time of year.
California is beginning 2024 with a below-normal mountain snowpack a year after it had one of its best starts in decades, and officials said Tuesday that the weather whiplash has made the outcome of this winter uncertain. The water content of the statewide snowpack was 25% of the average to date, said Sean de Guzman, a water supply forecasting official with the California Department of Water Resources.
California’s first snowpack measurement of 2024 is underwhelming with levels well below normal for this time of year. It is quite a change from a year ago when Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe was buried under 4 1/2 feet of snow. This year there were brown patches poking through the snow as the meager snowpack failed to completely cover the ground.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
