Northern California reservoirs recharged after atmospheric rivers

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Northern California reservoirs recharged after atmospheric rivers

(FOX40.COM) — Since Feb.1, Northern California has been pummeled by atmospheric rivers that have swelled the region’s reservoirs. So where do reservoir levels stand now after a dry January?

According to the California Department of Water Resources, nearly every reservoir in Northern California is above its historical average for this time of year.

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Shasta Lake

California’s largest reservoir Shasta Lake is measuring 136% of its historic average and at 90% of its total capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet.

An acre-foot is roughly equal to a football field covered in a foot deep of water.

On Feb. 1, Shasta Lake had a reservoir elevation of 1,029 feet and over the last week has risen by over 20 feet to 1,051 feet.

This significant rise in lake level is due to an astonishing amount of inflow from the lake’s tributaries.

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On Tuesday, lake inflow monitors measured over 102,000 cubic feet of water per second (CFS) flowing into the lake. That is equivalent to 763,012 gallons of water or more than one Olympic-sized swimming pool worth of water flowing into the lake every second.

Here are the inflow rates for Feb. 1 to Feb. 5: • Feb. 1: 13,543 cfs• Feb. 2: 42,622 cfs• Feb. 3: 69,536 cfs• Feb. 4: 102,213 cfs• Feb. 5: 73,170 cfs

Shasta Dam is operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation.

Lake Oroville

California’s second-largest reservoir Lake Oroville, also saw a significant resurgence as it climbed to 84% of its total capacity and 137% of its historic average.

On Feb. 1, the California Department of Water Resources began increasing the rate of water flowing from Lake Oroville’s main spillway in anticipation of the coming storm systems.

Sacramento Weather, Radar & Maps

Spilling began at 9,400 cfs on Feb. 1 and steadily ramped up to 37,180 cfs on Thursday. Even with the strong discharge, lake levels still rose by 20 feet and saw an increase of nearly 278,000 acre-feet.

“These coordinated releases are critical to maintaining storage space in Lake Oroville to capture ongoing and future runoff from storms while providing flood protection to downstream communities,” the DWR wrote.

Folsom Lake

Closer to the Sacramento region, Folsom Lake is 107% of its historic average for this time of year despite being at exactly 50% of its total storage capacity.

Although Folsom Lake did not see the staggering inflows like Shasta and Oroville, it did see a significant rise in lake levels.

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Between Feb. 1 and Feb. 6, Folsom Lake rose from 396.81 feet to 414.94 feet for a total gain of 18.13 feet. The rain also brought an additional 128,899 acre-feet of water.

Folsom Dam is operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation.

Future Weather Forecast

According to the National Weather Service, Friday will be the start of another dry spell across Northern California.

Conditions will remain cold and dry into next week with lows below freezing from the Sacramento Valley to the Sierra Nevada.

Satellite imaging from NOAA’s GOES-West shows some lingering clouds over Northern California and broken-up storm systems in the Pacific.

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