How California’s Reservoirs Will Change After Atmospheric River Hits
California will escape much of the rainfall from an incoming atmospheric river, but the storm will still benefit some of the state’s reservoirs.
California will escape much of the rainfall from an incoming atmospheric river, but the storm will still benefit some of the state’s reservoirs.
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.
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.