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San Francisco Chronicle
24-05-2025
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
California's second-largest reservoir fills for third straight year
California's second-largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, reached capacity Friday, hitting the high water mark for the third straight year — a first for the 57-year-old reservoir. The milestone comes after a moderately wet winter in California, with enough snow in the mountains, particularly in the north, to melt and flush substantial water into state reservoirs. This week, water storage in California's major reservoirs stood at a comfortable 116% of average for the time of year, ensuring decent supplies for the rest of 2025. At Lake Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento in Butte County, water levels rose Friday morning to within inches of the 900-foot elevation mark that state water managers deem full pool, prompting notice that the reservoir had hit capacity. At capacity, the lake holds 3.4 million acre-feet of water, enough to supply more than 7 million households for a year. The lake's supplies are at the heart of the State Water Project, a network of nearly two dozen dams and reservoirs run by the California Department of Water Resources. The state facilities provide drinking water for 27 million people, mostly in the Bay Area and Southern California. 'Full reservoirs allow DWR to help meet the needs of the State Water Project contractors and their customers this year as well as provide some water supply next year in the event that dry conditions return,' Raquel Borrayo, a spokesperson for the Department of Water Resources, said in an email. This past winter was the third straight with near- or above-average rain and snow in California. Accordingly, reservoirs have fared well, and statewide water supplies have remained robust. Still, water managers encourage people to conserve, pointing out the fickle nature of California weather and water. Just four years ago, severe drought pushed Lake Oroville to its lowest point since the reservoir began operating in 1968. Managers of the State Water Project have said they plan to deliver 50% of the water that contractors have requested this year, choosing to remain relatively cautious. California's largest reservoir, the federally run Shasta Lake, also hit capacity this spring. The Bureau of Reclamation-managed Central Valley Project, which supplies water to mostly agricultural users, is similarly planning to provide 50% of the water requested to the bulk of its contractors.
San Francisco Chronicle
04-05-2025
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
California's biggest reservoir reaches capacity for third straight year
California's largest reservoir, Shasta Lake, reached capacity this week, marking the third straight year it has filled or nearly filled with water. The run of big water years at the reservoir reflects the unusual string of wet winters the state has experienced, and it bodes well for water supplies this year across California. The lake, which stretches across an extraordinary 35 miles in the southern Cascades north of Redding near Mount Shasta, is the cornerstone of the federally run Central Valley Project. Its supplies are sent to cities and farms hundreds of miles away, including the Bay Area. The San Joaquin Valley's booming agricultural industry is the primary beneficiary. The lake's water, collected from the Sacramento River, also generates hydroelectricity and is used to manage downriver flows for wildlife and water quality. The last time Shasta Lake hit capacity or near capacity for three consecutive years was 2010 through 2012. Early in the week, the Bureau of Reclamation announced a slight increase in the amount of water it expects to deliver this year from Shasta Lake and the nearly 20 other reservoirs in the Central Valley Project. According to the announcement, most water suppliers for farms in the San Joaquin Valley will get 50% of what they requested, up from the 40% projected in March. Water suppliers north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are still slotted for 100% of what they requested while municipal suppliers south of the delta remain pegged for 75%. The State Water Project, a network of reservoirs that runs in parallel to the federal project, also increased its projected deliveries from 40% to 50% this week. Its flagship reservoir, Lake Oroville, is also expected to fill. On Thursday, the state's major reservoirs cumulatively held 118% of the water they typically hold this time of year, according to the California Department of Water Resources. State and federal decisions about how much water to deliver are based largely on the amount of water held in reservoirs, much of it coming from spring snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades. But there are other factors, too, both hydrological, such as how quickly the snow melts, and regulatory, including how much water must be released from reservoirs for rivers and fish. This year, snowpack across the state measured 96% of average on April 1, the point at which it typically peaks. Seasonal precipitation stands at 99% of average. The past two years were wetter, with snowpack at 111% of average in April 2024 and 237% of average in April 2023. With snowmelt now in full force, Shasta Lake peaked on Tuesday. The reservoir held 4,405,312 acre-feet of water, federal data shows, leaving it less than five feet from topping out, which water officials consider 'full pool.' (An acre-foot of water is equal to what two to three households use in a year.) Since Tuesday, the Bureau of Reclamation has increased water releases from the reservoir, which has dropped lake levels. 'Operation of the Central Valley Project supports food and economic development not only for California, but the nation,' said Michael Burke, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the federal project, in an email. 'With a full (Shasta) reservoir we can meet the needs of the communities downstream and generate power when it is needed the most.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
For the first time in 25 years, California has a snowpack trifecta
The year may have started with a dry spell, but the end of California's storm season has brought more fresh snow to the Sierra Nevada, pushing the state's snowpack to 96% of average on April 1, when the snow season typically reaches its peak. The near-average snowpack has given the state a third straight year of ample water supplies in the mountains — something that hasn't happened in a quarter of a century. "Earlier on, there were some indicators that we might have a dry year, but fortunately, the storm windows have stayed open and given us a good boost in February and March to be where we are today," said Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys and water supply forecasting for the California Department of Water Resources. This near-average winter followed an extremely wet and snowy 2023 and a wet 2024. This time last year, the snowpack measured 111% of average. The dominance of wet weather has brought a reprieve from the severe drought Californians endured from 2020 through 2022, the state's driest three-year period on record. The last time California had three consecutive years of average or above-average snow was from 1998 to 2000, Reising said. At that point, it had been 20 years since a similar pattern occurred, from 1978 to 1980. This year's storms have brought ample rains at lower elevations, and statewide precipitation since Oct. 1 measures 103% of average for this time of year. The last two wet years have also left California's reservoirs in good shape. The state's major reservoirs are now at 117% of average levels. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which delivers water for 19 million people in six counties, has a record amount of water banked in reservoirs and underground storage areas. "The reservoirs are above average for this time of year, and so that's a great sign for this year moving forward," Reising told reporters during a briefing Tuesday. California's snowpack typically provides nearly a third of the state's water supply. The latest storms and increased snowpack prompted state water officials last week to increase their forecast of water deliveries this year from the aqueducts of the State Water Project, which transports supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California. The allocation was increased to 40% of requested supplies, up from 35% a month earlier. Read more: Trump administration dramatically cuts staff at water agency in California The Trump administration also announced last week that it increased water allocations this year for the Central Valley Project, or CVP, the federally managed system of dams and reservoirs that delivers supplies from the Delta to farmlands and communities in the San Joaquin Valley. Many agencies that receive water from the CVP were already set to receive 100% of their allotments, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that agricultural irrigation districts south of the Delta will now receive 40% allocations, up from an initial 35%, while those that receive water from the Friant-Kern and Madera canals will get 100% of their allotments. The federal agency said in a written statement that it was seeking to "maximize" water deliveries as President Trump recently directed in an executive order. Large agricultural water districts in the Central Valley have supported Trump's order, while environmental advocates have raised concerns that federal efforts to increase pumping in the Delta could threaten vulnerable fish species that have already suffered declines in recent years. The Bureau of Reclamation said that, acting under Trump's executive order, it would "continue to maximize pumping whenever possible at the federal pumping facility to move water to parts of California where it is needed most." Read more: New desalination technology being tested in California could lower costs of tapping seawater Although the ample snowpack and nearly full reservoirs mean stable water supplies for California for the time being, officials and experts caution that the next dry spell could come at any time. Scientific research has shown that droughts are growing more intense in the western United States because of global warming and that average snow lines have been creeping higher in the mountains as temperatures rise, altering runoff patterns. In February, scientists noted that the snowpack was significantly smaller at many lower-elevation monitoring sites in the mountains after months of warmer-than-average temperatures. This year also brought a pattern of more snow and wetter conditions in Northern California, with less snow and drier conditions in Southern California. As of Tuesday, the snowpack measured 118% of average in the northern Sierra Nevada, 91% of average in the central Sierra and 84% of average in the southern Sierra. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said in a social media post that after Tuesday's cold weather system departs, "spring will begin in earnest across California," with much drier and warmer conditions in the coming days. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Trump has vowed to pump more water. Government data show pumping was down for maintenance
When President Trump visited Los Angeles last week, he pledged to 'open up the pumps and valves in the north' and 'get that water pouring down here.' But records show that the day he made that announcement, the federal government's pumping facility in Northern California was delivering less water than usual, apparently because managers had reduced pumping for several days of routine maintenance. The records indicate that the day after Trump's announcement, on Saturday, the federally managed pumping plant resumed regular levels of water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into the aqueducts of the Central Valley Project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's daily pumping data for the Jones Pumping Plant shows that on Jan. 21, the amount of water pumped decreased to about 1,900 acre-feet, down from about 6,900 acre-feet the day before. Pumping continued at reduced levels of about 1,800 acre-feet each day from Jan. 22 through Jan. 24, when Trump visited Los Angeles. The pumping returned to higher levels on Saturday, Jan. 25, delivering 5,300 acre-feet of water that day, or about 1.7 billion gallons. On Monday night, Trump said on social media that the U.S. military had 'entered' California and 'TURNED ON THE WATER,' a claim that state officials promptly denied. The California Department of Water Resources responded in a statement: 'The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days.' Gov. Gavin Newsom responded at a news conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday. 'There were no military sent to the Central Valley. That was reported but wasn't in evidence,' Newsom said. He said the federal government was doing maintenance on the Central Valley Project from Jan. 21 to Jan. 24. 'Between the 21st and 24th, the federal government was doing maintenance on their system. It's maintenance that is well coordinated with the State Water Project that does not end pumping,' Newsom said. For four days, maintenance work on power transmission lines prevented operation of another pumping plant south of the Delta near San Luis Reservoir, which led managers to reduce pumping at the Jones Pumping Plant. 'On the 24th, that maintenance ended, and they started turning back on the pumps,' Newsom said. 'It takes a few days to get the pumps back to 100%, and perhaps that was what they were celebrating.' The Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the Central Valley Project, did not respond to requests for information about the maintenance that temporarily reduced water deliveries. The unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, which Trump plans to consult for recommendations on cutting government spending, said in a social media post that it congratulates the administration for 'more than doubling the Federally pumped water flowing toward Southern California.' According to the government data, the Trump administration has not yet increased pumping above the levels that the federal facility was drawing from the Delta under the Biden administration earlier this month. (On Tuesday, the pumping plant delivered nearly 6,900 acre-feet. On Wednesday, that decreased somewhat to about 5,100 acre-feet, and on Thursday, pumping returned to more than 6,800 acre-feet.) Water experts have pointed out that Trump made several inaccurate statements on social media and during his L.A. visit. For example, he said he was opening up the flow of water 'from the Pacific Northwest' and 'parts of Canada' — from where California has no aqueducts, pipelines or other avenues for water flow. He also said he intended to increase the flow of water to Los Angeles, even though urban areas of Southern California are supplied not by the federally managed Central Valley Project but by the State Water Project, the other main north-to-south water conduit in the region — which hasn't been directly affected by his executive orders. 'I don't think he's interested in water. I think he's interested in other things — for which this is perhaps a rhetorical vehicle,' said Jay Lund, a UC Davis emeritus professor of civil and environmental engineering. Lund said he thinks one aim of Trump's statements might be 'keeping other people off balance,' including political adversaries in California. 'He likes to occupy space, it seems,' Lund said. 'He's not doing things that would actually provide water. He's setting up some rhetorical conditions for perhaps other things he's interested in accomplishing.' Trump has clashed with Newsom on California water policy and has repeatedly criticized environmental protections for endangered fish species in the Delta, which place constraints on water deliveries. Trump issued an order on Sunday directing federal agencies to 'maximize' water deliveries in California and 'override' state policies if necessary. Lund noted, however, that the movement of water in California is largely controlled by local and regional agencies. Because of state environmental laws and other factors, he said, the president is generally 'not in a strong position to greatly alter how California manages water.' 'You're never quite sure where it's going to lead to. But he does business by menacing a bit,' Lund said. 'My impression of this is, a lot of these things are really more signaling rather than substance.' If Trump eventually increases federal pumping via the federally controlled Central Valley Project, that would primarily benefit the agriculture industry in the San Joaquin Valley, sending more water flowing to farms that produce almonds, pistachios, tomatoes and other crops. The CVP ends in the southern San Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield and does not reach Southern California's urban areas to the south. Lund and other experts have pointed out that because state flow requirements to protect endangered fish will remain in place regardless of any federal changes, an increase in pumping by the federal system could, in theory, lead to a decrease in pumping by the State Water Project and less water flowing to urban Southern California. 'He might be arguing about the share of federal versus state pumping, but I don't see much promise in being able to increase the total amount of pumping,' Lund said. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the wildfires in Southern California underscored why the state should be delivering more water south from the Delta. But California water managers have said L.A. and other cities are not currently short of water, pointing out that the region's reservoirs are at record-high levels. State officials have also said that pumping to move water south from the Delta has nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles. Even with ample supplies in reservoirs, local water systems were pushed to their limits as the fires rapidly spread, driven by strong winds. When the L.A. water system lost pressure in parts of Pacific Palisades, some fire hydrants ran dry in high-elevation areas, hindering the firefighting effort. Newsom has ordered an investigation into the loss of pressure to hydrants and the lack of water available from a reservoir in Pacific Palisades that was out of commission for repairs. In his latest executive order, Trump criticized 'disastrous' policies and water 'mismanagement' by California, and directed federal agencies to scrap a plan that the Biden administration adopted last month, establishing new rules for operating the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. Instead, Trump told federal agencies to more or less follow a plan adopted during his first presidency, which California and environmental groups successfully challenged in court. Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, responded to Trump's order earlier this week saying the directive has no immediate impact on operations of the State Water Project, which supplies water for 27 million people. Nemeth said the current rules for the operations of the two water systems in the Delta actually supply Californians with more water than they'd have access to under Trump's 2020 rules, since the latest plan was written based on new science and with added flexibility to 'respond more nimbly to real-time conditions' in rivers and the Delta. 'To abandon these new frameworks would harm California water users and protection of native fish species,' Nemeth said.
