Charts from the California Department of Water Resources show conditions at key state reservoirs on Oct. 22 (left) and on Nov. 2 (right). As the system aged, especially in an era of heightened safety awareness following the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 and drought in the 1990s, it became evident that the system required a complete overhaul. For each of the top 8 reservoirs the storage has increased by a total of 217 kaf, however). The amount stored is increasing, just not by a lot. . I am grateful for all that you have done here to open our eyes to what is happening, what has happened, and even what might be on the horizon. Steve Ritchie, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's assistant general manager for water, said the additional water amounted to roughly 11% of the reservoir's total capacity. In the year prior to Oroville reaching capacity the interactive chart showed the rate of inflow over time. FYI it looks like Isabella is reading incorrectly, likely because its well above 100%. 9 of 12 10 of 12 Hetch Hetchy Reservoir with Wapama Falls near Groveland, Calif. on Wednesday March 12, 2014, is currently at fifty percent of capacity. This dashboard provides a bit more detail on the state of each of the reservoirs while also showing an aggregate total. While the long-term voluntary agreement work continues, the SFPUC does not want to wait to restore the Tuolumne Rivers ecosystem. How can I apply to SFPUC? dam and restoring the valley. SFPUC said as of this week, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir is at 92 percent capacity. The 1913 Raker Act authorized the unprecedented dam inside the park and also set the fee that the city pays to rent the entire valley in which the dam sits: $30,000 per year. This is a very clear graph and I cannot imagine the hours you have put in while setting it up and doing the maintenance. There are many very small reservoirs (relative to Shasta) so the bars will be very thin to the point where they are barely a sliver or may not even show up. The main goal of this visualization is to provide a quick overview of the status of the main reservoirs in the state and how they compare to historical levels. Current as of October 03, 2022 | Updated by . over the past few days. Stay up-to-date with breaking news and upcoming events. One acre-foot is the equivalent of one acre of land covered in one foot of water. The information on Isabella has been fluctuating drastically (by a factor of 10!) Due to its high-altitude location at 3,900 feet above sea level The only improvement I would ask you to consider is to allow the Y-axis to be Linear or Log, the latter allowing us to see all the small reservoirs quite easily. Francisco Public Utilities Commissions 26 wholesale customers Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. I find myself coming back to this every few days to check on our water . Exclusive: Stunning photos show Yosemite National Park under 15 feet of Warriors treating Andrew Wiggins with understandable patience, but his California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could Map shows which parts of California exceeded entire years worth of rain, Map shows stunning improvement in California drought, Last chance to see: Bay Bridge lights turn off on Sunday. The current power produced by the SFPUC system, although not carbon-based, is not green since it requires the continued destruction of significant habitat. Previously, Kellie covered dining news and trends, visual arts, events and nightlife for the Arizona Republic, and freelanced for the former Contra Costa Times. The SFPUC gets the bulk of its water from a network of reservoirs in the central Sierra Nevada that have long altered flows of the Tuolumne River and its tributaries. Water is rapidly flowing into the state's reservoirs. Thats up more than 400,000 acre-feet since early December, before the unrelenting series of atmospheric river storms blew through California between Christmas and mid-January. Assistant General Manager for Water Steven Ritchie credits the way the system is managed along with lower. Maybe bad data. function reloadiframes(){ //this function is called from the javascript from within the iframe after the contents of iframe are loaded (and after an additional 150ms delay) The surplus has renewed concerns about San Francisco stockpiling water at the expense of rivers and the fish and wildlife that live there. } The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. San Franciscos water system, which includes Hetchy Hetchy, is expected to fill this winter for the first time since 2019. Data and Tools Yes, and why is Twitchell Dam also not listed? hetch hetchy reservoir level percentage Rivers and Streams Streams draining into the Peninsula Watershed within the project area are relatively small, steep, and in a 2021-11-17. For the higher elevations, more of their water comes directly from snowmelt. If a reservoir gets filled to 100% and more, the dam will break and many cities will get flooded, so the operators are careful. This is an excellent tool you have put together. Just a wistful thought, it would be really cool to graph the water release statistics. 1 kaf is the amount of water that would cover 1 acre in one thousand feet of water (or 1000 acres in water in 1 foot of water). Really appreciate the work you did to build this graph. Im curious why the percentage of capacity has stayed almost flat for the past 6 weeks or so and below historical average. I previously made a bar graph showing the overall level of water in the major California reservoirs. Flood control agencies (not DWR) have the most say in regard to releases. the city wastes water, so it was a moot issue. For the first week of February, there was a slight increase for most reservoirs from January amounts. Thats just another very strong indication visually that its a big water year.. They placed a few dissipators just before the river. }, 150); Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the systems water. 501(c)3 organization, federal tax ID #942419885. March 12 - The Perks of California Native Wildflowers, March 28 - Rainwater Harvesting and Rain Gardens, April 01 - Lawn Conversion to Native and Drought-Tolerant Plants. More about the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement can be found athttp://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. Lake Almanor isnt controlled by DWR for flood/supply. located in a national park and it passed the Raker Act in 1913 to Why is it not listed? The height of the row indicates how much water the reservoir could hold. The remaining 15 percent of water comes from runoff in the Alameda and Peninsula watersheds. At the beginning of this water year, which started on October 1, 2022, the state's largest water reservoir, Lake Shasta, was a third full, at 33 percent. At the height of the recent drought, they still had at least four years in storage. And for the years they were hoarding water, the salmon-based ecosystem suffered.. Congress had to approve the project because it was A diverse mix of sources protects us from potential disruptions due to emergencies or natural disasters, provides resiliency during periods of drought, and helps us ensure a long-term, sustainable water supply as we address issues such as climate uncertainty, regulatory changes and population growth. Current conditions of LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NGVD 1929 and RESERVOIR STORAGE are available. In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies. That puts it at 84 percent of where it would usually be usually at this time of year. The tremendous inflow to city reservoirs during the recent storms, mostly in and around Yosemite National Park, has lifted San Franciscos total water storage to near capacity. But tearing down O'Shaughnessy Dam in order to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley would be a disaster. Restore Hetch Hetchy supports a power replacement plan that is truly renewable, and will not increase emissions of any pollutants or carbon that causes global warming. They also built a spillway that was too steep and did not install energy dissipators along the spillway. . The source water from SFPUC is typically from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This site is a great tool, especially as we try to climb out of these drought years. For example, the average storage level for Feb. 7 is usually 65% of capacity for Trinity Dam, but currently its at 31%. Its fluctuating between ~107% and ~20% from one hour to the next (reading 107.6 atm). This system encompasses more than 1,250 miles of distribution pipelines, as well as 12 in-City reservoirs and eight water tanks with a total storage capacity of approximately 413 million gallons. The windfall of water is welcome news for households and businesses in San Francisco, which use less water on average compared to the rest of the state but nonetheless have faced calls to cut back since 2021 because of water shortages. Copyright 2023Water Education Foundation. Your email address will not be published. She is also an alumna of Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting Investigative Fellowship and The New York Times Student Journalism Institute. Just trying to learn here Thanks so much! Thats a great suggestion and one that would be particularly helpful! San Francisco's water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. An official website of the United States government. The main reason for the discrepancy, the department said, is that the focus of the atmospheric river was generally between the Golden Gate and Mount Lassen, meaning that the Feather River watershed received much more rainfall than the Shasta Lake drainage area. Central Valleyfarms have installed enough drip irrigationstrips to reach the moon and back, an improvement that also enables more efficient application of fertilizer and pesticides. Thanks for the link. Department of Water Resources is just another in a long line of completely mismanaged California entities. Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, rose 2.9 feet and added 31,020 acre-feet of water. While the rainfall has been bad for many people, I am happy to see Californias reservoirs are benefiting slightly, Amen! How can I match up other monitoring locations similar to the ones on this Interactive Dashboard? At the moment, I am not interested in the debate. So while that is kind of good news, he said, things start to look more grim after January produced paltry rainfall and, so far, February has also been dry. construction in the 1920s, various groups have lobbied to restore It certainly looks dry at least until the last week in February, he said. So its volume is counted as Orville inflow. Hetch-Hetchy predicted to fill by end of the snowmelt period 2020-2021 Winter season continues to be dry 2019-2020 was dry, although key differences Feb. 2020 was unusually warm, which impacted snowfall levels and water demands; Feb 2021 was cooler, and hence snowfall level higher and water use lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, along Highway 280 in San Mateo County, was 89 percent . "It is unknown how much area of the Feather River and Shasta Lake drainages are impacted by hydrophobic soils.". The Hetch Hetchy Valley today with the dam seen in the lower right. Great resource! For detailed analysis of how San Franciscos water system will operate without Hetch Hetchy reservoir, see the Environmental Defense Funds studiesParadise RegainedandCherry Intertie Alternative. Then it has the appearance of something filling up, while still providing all the detail. The Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which supplies water for San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area, was at 77% of its 360,000-acre-feet storage capacity in January compared to 73% in. Having it here would be great! It would be really interesting to visualize whether were able to replenish ground water this year after all the precipitation. the Bay Area. Most local reservoir inflow timeseries are too short to calculate long-term values. She is a University of Washington graduate. Thanks for developing it, and for sharing it with the rest of us! The recent spate of storms lifted the statewide snowpack to 190% of average for the start of the month, and more snow is on the way. Saved to my favorites now. If you look at the inflow data on the major reservoirs, its pretty flat. Water is such a fascinating topic and Id hate to have to be a water manager making a decision on how much to release to avoid reservoir flooding. This was helpful to project seasonal trends & storm impacts. Isabella is filling quite slowly in order to test out the new $500 million spillway. What happened to the Hetch Hetchy level? Last week, I paid a visit to Hetch Hetchy. O'Shaughnessy Dam was built on the Tuolumne River in 1923 to create Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Shasta is very large and could hold about 3.5 cubic kilometers of water at full (but not flood) capacity. Francisco Bay Area. For most of the year it will still be possible to divert the flow of the Tuolumne River into the pipeline just downstream of the National Park boundary. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from Yosemite to the San Francisco Bay Area. It seems likely one of those two readings is wrong. It wont be full until Spring snowmelt. http://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. Its essential to understand that the dispute over San Franciscos use of Hetch Hetchy is not about the use of water only how it is stored. Together, the BAWSCA agencies account for two-thirds of water consumption from the system and pay for two-thirds of its upkeep. What period does CA use for Historical Average? It will be very different depending on the period chosen. From the main road, it's about a 20- to 25-minute drive to the parking area. This would allow us to see important, but noise-level reservoirs like hetch hetchy. It was the only tool that I could find that would allow me to make a vertical marimekko graph. According to the SFPUC, the upper reaches of the Tuolumne River have received about 36 inches of rain since the start of the water year in October, almost as much as what the area averages in a year. It allowed the water over the spillway to move too fast creating a vacuum between the water and the concrete that pulled the concrete sections out of the spillway. Locked padlock ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. reservoir violates the California Constitution specifically the Historical average is near unattainable these days. Occasionally the source water will shift to local reservoirs during routine maintenance to the conveyance system. Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, which serves San Francisco, thanks. Navigation and Navigable Waters 33.208.82 Hetch Hetchy, Cherry Valley, and Don Pedro Dams and Reservoirs. generates electricity for the city). it will be cool if there is a way to track the change since Dec or some such date. Thank you for the time and effort in creating the graphs. Curt, Good point re the colder weather dropping more snow instead of rain at higher elevations this year. While constructed and owned by San Francisco, the water system was in fact planned to benefit the greater San Francisco Bay Area population. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11275500/#parameterCode=00054&period=P7D. Restoring Hetch Hetchy will require some changes in how San Francisco moves and stores water. For the class we based all our designs on the USACE spillway design manual. https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?s=HTH Forty-six percent . Draining Hetch Hetchy without depriving Bay Area residents of Nate, thanks for the insight. Hetch Hetchy Level before the storm: 3,729.68 feet Level after the storm: 3,750.99 feet Total rise: 21.31 feet Storage before the storm: 221,500 acre-feet Storage after the storm: 257,800. Thanks. The adopted Plan addresses water quality issues affecting the ecosystem and fisheries of the Bay-Delta system. If you are reading this, its probably the winter rainy season in California again, and time to check on the status of the water in the California reservoirs. use must be reasonable.. Monitoring location 11277200 is associated with a LAKE, RESERVOIR, IMPOUNDMENT in TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. Before joining the Chronicle, Alexander worked as a freelance writer and as a staff reporter for several media organizations, including The Fresno Bee and Bay Area News Group, writing about government, politics and the environment. sends student to hospital, Heres how much rain and snow is on the way this weekend, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). And the current water storage amounts are well below the historical averages for this time of year. Wife of missing Bay Area radio host says Jeffrey Vandergrift will not Sen. Dianne Feinstein is hospitalized in San Francisco with shingles, California extends deadline to file 2022 income taxes to match IRS decision, Here's where California reservoir levels stand after this week's rains, Going to Tahoe this weekend? The construction of the Hetch Hetchy Railroad took place from 1915 to 1918. A truly excellent project. A wet December produced ample snowfall, which is still sitting at high elevations. Also, do they provide inflows and outflows for locations? Add a button to convert the row heights to log scale. Hetch Hetchy is the only reservoir above its average storage of 63%, and is 82% full. Its currently listed on this page as 29kaf full, but the usgs.gov page below says Hetch Hetchy is at 299.7kaf full. How do I contact support? I havent spent much time looking at it but that data is on the CDEC website. My guess would be that the recent systems have been cold and so they are predominantly dropping snow on the watershed. Additionally, the bounty helps the more than two dozen communities in Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties that get their water from the city. Wife of missing Bay Area radio host says Jeffrey Vandergrift will not Sen. Dianne Feinstein is hospitalized in San Francisco with shingles, California extends deadline to file 2022 income taxes to match IRS decision, Going to Tahoe this weekend? rejected by an appellate court and the California Supreme Court But it has flooded nine miles of a glacier-carved valley and blocks access to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne and other nearby areas. draining the reservoir to court, arguing in 2015 that the And while one storm didn't come close to ending the drought, some reservoirs in Northern California, especially those that fell right in the path of the storm, saw significant gains. It can take several days to see the full impact on reservoirs as water continues to run through watersheds and into streams in the days after a storm. Restore Hetch Hetchys subsequent appeal to the ruling was Thanks for putting this together. Horoscope for Friday, 3/03/23 by Christopher Renstrom, No seriously, dont drive up to Tahoe this weekend, Wife of Jeffrey Vandergrift issues somber update, Snowboarder dies at Tahoe ski resort following historic blizzard, Scream publicity stunt floods Bay Area dispatch with 911 calls, The best fried chicken is at a San Francisco strip club, Rain reenters Bay Area forecast: Have an umbrella near you, The Warriors broke Russell Westbrook, just like old times, Mochi muffin bakery closes SF cafe after just 4 months, Arrest in killing of woman seen running through Tahoe campground, Oakland ransomware attackers leak 'confidential' data, California Department of Water Resources website, 14 things you need in your car before you drive to Tahoe. For perspective, water demand across the SFPUC's service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. I hear from the farmers that we waste 80% of the water by flushing it into the ocean. I also hear the environmentalists say, the streams and wildlife need water, so flush it into the ocean. Its an interesting dilemma. The Department of Water Resources, which manages the state's water supply, said in a statement that there are several possible reasons for the difference in inflow amounts between the two reservoirs. There is something strange about the data over the last two days (Jan.17 to Jan. 19): According to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir can store as much as 117 billion gallons for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, which serves San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. currently, there is a lot more water coming in than going out. proposition that would have funded an $8 million study on how Arg. This is the best one out there. Instructions: The OShaughnessy Dam, which was completed in 1938 and is 430-feet tall, impounds water in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for communities in the Bay Area. That said, most of its outflow makes its way down Feather River (via Rock Creek Reservoir) and ultimately into Orville. UPDATE: Here's where California reservoir levels stand after this week's rains. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from Yosemite to the San Francisco Bay Area. Similar to the water supply issues discussed above, the amount of power replacement is small in a statewide context less than of 1% of the renewable power supply being developed this decade alone. If you click on the list button in the top right of the dashboard, it will show a list of the reservoirs (in order of size from largest to smallest) and you can check which ones you would like to display. 95 percent of. Water data back to 1930 are available online. Impounded by OShaughnessy Dam, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir water passes through hydroelectric powerhouses before it enters the San Joaquin Pipelines, the Tesla Ultraviolet Treatment Facility, and the Coast Range Tunnel on its journey to the Bay Area. Article X, Section 2 that requires diversions for all water Tracy Barbutes, Freelance / Special to The Chronicle, Heres where California reservoir levels stand after this weeks rains. Folsom is like an overflow tank. Rizzardo said there was a decent amount of flow into the reservoirs into January, even though weather-wise it was bone dry, a result of lower elevation snow at 4,000 to 6,000 feet making its way into the reservoirs. Thanks for the prompt reply! Maybe just acre/ft with ^ or down arrow. Wonderful site. Your tools are awesome just hurts when you receive bad data at times! The valley is The Bay Area transmission system also includes Irvington Tunnel 1 and Tunnel 2, the Bay Tunnel, and the Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel. reserved. The overall storage is said to have dropped by 57.4 to 56.4 (or 302 kaf). We own and operate the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System which serves 2.7 million customers. Top ways to experience Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and nearby attractions Yosemite: Audio Driving Tour 1 Full-day Tours from $9.99 per group (up to 8) Private Yosemite Explorer Package | 3 Days of Adventure 3 Private and Luxury from $750.00 per adult (price varies by group size) Private Family Photo Day in Yosemite 78 Recommended Full-day Tours from There are no alerts at this time. Water storage facilities include watersheds, dams, and reservoirs including: Calaveras, San Antonio, Crystal Springs, Pilarcitos, and San Andreas. LK ELEANOR NR HETCH HETCHY CA. The blue line indicates the reservoirs water level one year ago today. Climbers Timmy O'Neill (left) and Lucho Rivera atop a wall overlooking Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. word for a type of wild grass. The group says the recent plethora of water shows that the city could do without Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, by using other storage facilities that have filled and pursuing new projects to capture the surplus. The gain came after weather gauges in the area recorded more than 5 inches from one storm. February 21, 2023 - BAWSCA Statement on State Water Resources Control Board'sSchedule for Consideration of a Voluntary Agreement for the Tuolumne River. Its not possible to see or really interact with the tiniest slivers. I was thinking that it would be interesting to compare inflows and outflows. It looks like the red and blue lines are backwards on Folsom. Hi, I started by using this page (https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES) to determine which reservoirs to include and for some reason Almanor isnt on the list. Impounded by O'Shaughnessy Dam, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir water passes through hydroelectric powerhouses before it enters the San Joaquin Pipelines, the Tesla Ultraviolet Treatment Facility, and the Coast Range Tunnel on its journey to the Bay Area. Best of luck out there in California! Theyve also seen drought surcharges on their water bills. Several cities and water agencies that are now part of BAWSCA urged Congress to pass the Raker Act in 1913, the law that allowed federal lands in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, including Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, to be used to build the water system. The problem is that we have no idea of knowing ahead of time what kind of storms well have and how long theyll last, but the reservoir operators have to be super careful and extra cautious, so they periodically let the water flow out. Hetch Hetchy is only one of nine reservoirs in the San Francisco Public Utility Commissions water system. One of the big challenges in water management is controling the release. Ive been meaning to search for aquifer levels. But they'll cost you, Fight at high school basketball game in S.F. This is wonderful information. Exclusive: Stunning photos show Yosemite National Park under 15 feet of Warriors treating Andrew Wiggins with understandable patience, but his California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could Map shows which parts of California exceeded entire years worth of rain, Map shows stunning improvement in California drought, Last chance to see: Bay Bridge lights turn off on Sunday.
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