As the rain year continues to look promising, rice farmers are happy to expect most if not all of their water allocations will be delivered.
This week the Department of Water Resources announced a 75% water allocation to the irrigation districts served by the State Water Project.
As wet weather has continued to impact California, some reservoirs across the state are being managed with scheduled releases of water to prevent flooding, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
After 14 atmospheric rivers hit back-to-back this winter, reservoirs began filling quickly. Though most of the major reservoirs aren’t full yet, several are significantly higher than they have been historically. This is especially true in Central California at the Don Pedro, Camanche and Oroville reservoirs, KTLA sister station KRON reports.
The California Department of Water Resources announced Monday that it slowed outflows from Lake Oroville from 35,000 cubic feet per second to 27,500 cfs.
According to a press release issued Monday by DWR, the reduction began at 6 p.m. Monday.
A series of atmospheric river events with heavy rain and snow have caused California water regulators to open flood gates on water storage facilities, but the uncertainty of when Mother Nature’s faucet will shut off has experts weighing the advantages and disadvantages of letting the precious resource run free.
With recent storm systems that swept through the west, California has seen more precipitation this year than normal, bringing the water supply stored in reservoirs — both locally and across the state — up from historic lows to levels that are some of the highest in years.
And with drought conditions having improved in much of California, experts say that the amount of water captured from this year’s particularly wet winter could help ease the impact of hotter, drier weather in San Diego, as the state recovers its depleted water supplies.
Two winters’ worth of snow has already fallen in the Sierra Nevada since Christmas, pulling California from the depths of extreme drought into one of its wettest winters in memory.
But as a series of tropical storms slams the state, that bounty has become a flood risk as warm rains fall on the state’s record snowpack, causing rapid melting and jeopardizing Central Valley towns still soggy from January’s deluges.
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.
Between Christmas and January this year, a parade of nine atmospheric rivers — vast streams of water vapor flowing east from the tropical Pacific — pummeled California. The trillions of gallons of rain poured on the state caused widespread flooding. While the rain topped up some drought-depleted reservoirs and aquifers and filled out snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, much of the water quickly ran off into the sea, flowing off asphalt and farms or released from reservoirs to prevent further flooding.
Lake Oroville, a key component of California’s water supply, looks noticeably fuller after a series of January storms.
The atmospheric rivers dumped trillions of gallons of moisture on the state, spurring widespread flooding and destruction but also providing a healthy boost to snowpack and drought-sapped reservoirs.
California may celebrate having double the expected snowpack after a string of atmospheric river storms, but state water experts warn that more needs to come to offset years of record-breaking drought.
At the season’s second monthly snowpack survey conducted Wednesday at Phillips Station — at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road — the California Department of Water Resources measured current snow depths and water content.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
