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Lake Shasta Water Level Healthy as New Water Year Begins. Trinity Lake? Still Recovering.

Thanks to a stormy winter and spring, Lake Shasta’s water level is almost a third higher than it usually is in mid-October.

The state’s largest reservoir at Shasta Dam, nine miles north of Redding, was 71% full on Monday, according to the California Department of Water Resources. That’s 130% of what the lake usually holds on that date, according to the state.

Louder Voices, Bigger Investments Needed for Calif. Water Security, Local Experts Say.

As the San Joaquin Valley yo-yos from drought to flooding, the region’s top water experts spent Thursday afternoon examining how to best approach the Valley’s long and short-term needs.

The viewpoints came amid the California Water Alliance’s third-annual water forum featuring the leaders of Friant Water Authority, Westlands Water District, farmer Cannon Michael, and Rep. John Duarte (R–Modesto).

Tribe Signs Pact With California to Work Together on Efforts to Save Endangered Salmon

A California tribe has signed agreements with state and federal agencies to work together on efforts to return endangered Chinook salmon to their traditional spawning areas upstream of Shasta Dam, a deal that could advance the long-standing goal of tribal leaders to reintroduce fish that were transplanted from California to New Zealand more than a century ago and still thrive there.

California to Squander Record Rains, Snowpack in Deluge of Regulations, GOP Lawmakers Say

California’s Central Valley constitutes 1 percent of the agricultural land in the United States yet it harvests nearly a quarter of the nation’s farmed products.

The 50-mile wide, 450-mile-long breadbasket is irrigated by an intricate series of river impoundments and canals that are regulated by federal and state agencies.

California Storms: Lake Shasta Now Three-Quarters Full as Rains Bring It Closer to Top

After a relatively dry February, the spigot has turned back on over the North State, thanks to a series of late-winter storms in March that have brought water levels up at Lake Shasta to almost 40 feet from its crest.

The lake — the state’s largest reservoir — has risen 8 feet over the past week and more than 100 feet since Dec. 1, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation numbers show.

Drenched by Higher-Than-Normal Rain, Lake Shasta Water Level Rises 60 Feet During January

Higher-than-normal rainfall during the past month has dramatically changed Lake Shasta, with the water level of California’s largest reservoir rising 60 feet since the end of December.

Gone are vast areas of shoreline that became parking lots and campgrounds as the lake dried up and the water level dropped during the past several years of low rainfall in the North State.

Harder Pushes Bill That Would Stop Tunnel

Congress could kill the Delta tunnel.

Under legislation introduced by Congressman Josh Harder and co-sponsored by Congressman John Garamendi, the Army Corps of Engineering would be banned from issuing a required permit the state needs to build the $16 billion Delta Conveyance project known simply as the Delta Tunnel.

The Corps has a pivotal role in the project given the water that would be diverted is stored behind Shasta Dam.

Shasta Dam Still at 25% Capacity After Second-Driest Summer

Despite the wet start to this year’s rain season, Shasta Dam remains at only 25% capacity.

“So three-quarters of the lake is empty; we need some really significant winter storms back-to-back-to-back to help fill this lake,” said Don Bader, the area manager at Shasta Dam.

Bader says they would like to have the dam typically around 60% full during this time of year. He says the dam depends mostly on rainfall.

Already Unrecognizable at Only 24% Full, Lake Shasta Still Falling in 2nd-worst Year on Record

Recent rainfall hasn’t been nearly enough to make a dent in Lake Shasta’s precariously low water levels.

The lakebed where the water has receded still shows cracks where mud has hardened and over the summer, dust devils have swept the fine, dried silt into the air.

The drought has dropped Lake Shasta to its second worst level since the last bucket of concrete was poured for Shasta Dam in December 1945.

Threatened by Shasta Dam Raise, McCloud One of America’s Most Endangered Rivers, Conservation Group Says

While the federal government sees the prospect of raising the height of Shasta Dam as a way to increase water storage for a thirsty California, the Winnemem Wintu of Shasta County see it as a threat to their culture.

It was a theme picked up this week by American Rivers, a conservation group that named the McCloud River one of America’s 10 most endangered rivers because of the proposal to raise the height of Shasta Dam.