That cant be right. provides water to 2.7 million residents and businesses in the San looks like the CDEC website is the cause of the issue unless it actually dropped 90% in a day: Why is it not listed? 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. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11275500/#parameterCode=00054&period=P7D. 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. The amount stored is increasing, just not by a lot. The overall storage is said to have dropped by 57.4 to 56.4 (or 302 kaf). Why isnt Lake Sonoma included? The Mokolumne River, which originates in the high Sierra, provides more than 90 percent of the East Bay's water and the Owens Valley in the eastern Sierra serves as a key source of water for Los Angeles. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander. While forecasters can predict the likelihood of future rainfall over large areas, they cant pinpoint it to the degree needed to determine whether a particular watershed/reservoir will overflow and cause damage and loss of life. Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, which serves San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy is Monitoring location 11275500. Are they releasing water to relieve the pressure in anticipation of more water? Take CA Highway 120 from the park toward Groveland. Copyright 2023Water Education Foundation. 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. All rights reserved. Whats going on with the water level at Oroville? It wont be full until Spring snowmelt. Official websites use .gov Owned by the city of San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Quite an eye opener. In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Wapama Falls (moderate) 5 mi (8 km) round-trip; 2 hours. proposition that would have funded an $8 million study on how The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park can store up to 117 billion gallons of drinking water that is used for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System that provides water for 2.6 . I realize there we dont want to reservoirs overflowing, but why are we still below historical average? the issue, including those under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, During the winter months, they let water out of the reservoirs in anticipation of large storms. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. I have wanted to do exactly this plot for years. For perspective, water demand across the SFPUCs service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. Meanwhile, the group Restore Hetch Hetchy is urging the SFPUC to abandon Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The Hetch Hetchy Valley today with the dam seen in the lower right. This would allow us to see important, but noise-level reservoirs like hetch hetchy. Trailhead coordinates: 37.946905, -119.787376 (37 56 48.85N 119 47 14.55W) Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the systems water. You can find the charts below from the California Department of Water Resources website. Major snowstorm might leave you stranded, New 101 express lanes opens in Bay Area. Much of the water passing through Holm would be diverted into the Mountain Tunnel and be used to generate power a second time at the Moccasin powerhouse. 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. Water data back to 1930 are available online. reserved. Remaining Capacity text in the legend should be brown? Delivery rates are 7-day average values. mandate within LK ELEANOR NR HETCH HETCHY CA. Hetch Hetchy is one of nine reserviors in a water system that serves San Francisco and other Bay Area communities. Its fluctuating between ~107% and ~20% from one hour to the next (reading 107.6 atm). Thats a great suggestion and one that would be particularly helpful! Very nice work. HETCH HETCHY RES A HETCH HETCHY CA. Congress had to approve the project because it was But they'll cost you, Fight at high school basketball game in S.F. Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System The Hetch Hetchy watershed, an area located in Yosemite National Park, is the major source of water for all of San Francisco's water needs. Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. A different story is unfolding at Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park, where water is being released to conserve and restore wildlife. You can sort the mekko graph by size largest at the top to smallest at the bottom or by reservoir location, from north to south. The captured water is piped 150 miles to the Bay Area. This is of particular interest as the self-imposed restrictions deadline is approaching and the federal government may have to step in and mandate restrictions across the 7 states, including California. San Franciscos water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. Great stuff. Generation at Holm powerhouse below Cherry Lake would be less affected. The reservoir is now projected to cost $4.4 billion, with Prop. P.S. Sierra Club unsuccessfully fought the reservoirs establishment required on whether to demolish OShaughnessy Dam. There doesnt seem to be any site that shows the impact of each storm. 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. Hetchy Reservoir can store as much as 117 billion gallons for the If you look at this chart for Hetch Hetchy, you can see that the biggest and steadiest rise is between March and July, https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11275500/#parameterCode=00054&period=P365D&compare=true. This other page: https . How can I match up other monitoring locations similar to the ones on this Interactive Dashboard? For the class we based all our designs on the USACE spillway design manual. James Q. Martin / Restore Hetch Hetchy Show More Show Less 4 of 7 Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. San Franciscos water system, which includes Hetchy Hetchy, is expected to fill this winter for the first time since 2019. Twenty of San This dashboard provides a bit more detail on the state of each of the reservoirs while also showing an aggregate total. 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 I havent spent much time looking at it but that data is on the CDEC website. Required fields are marked *. This is also affected by most of these dams multi-purpose nature where they are near constantly releasing for power(like Shasta) or to make room for flood control capacity(like Folsom). River. As of 5pm on 1/18, the data appears correct (~58k acre feet), but an hour ago it was reading off the chart (3X above what they are allowed to store right now). 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. 2022 All Rights Reserved. Thanks for the link. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The SFPUC has voiced concerns with the Plan, as it would dramatically reduce the agencys water supply, leaving it subject to significant rationing in droughts and more extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change. The new 68-mile (109 km) railroad wound its way up the narrow canyon of the Tuolumne River past sharp curves and up steep 4% grades. Maintaining this variety of sources is an important component of our near and long-term water supply management strategy. Love the dashboard! Click here for the SFPUC's 2020State of the Regional Water System Report. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from Yosemite to the San Francisco Bay Area. the map graph doesnt include berryessa. Isabella is filling quite slowly in order to test out the new $500 million spillway. proposed as a source of water following the 1906 San Francisco Is that from melting snow and rain water coming from the mountains and filling it up? A dry January with little rainfall across much of Northern California actually didnt hurt the states water storage levels, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources. Locked padlock 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. The source water from SFPUC is typically from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One acre-foot is the equivalent of one acre of land covered in one foot of water. Its not possible to see or really interact with the tiniest slivers. San Franciscos Hetch Hetchy water system is almost full for the first time in years. This is wonderful information. I second that request. A 1 week change would be interesting to show on each. It is on the graph. They are releasing water into the canals. "This was rare for October. 95 percent of. 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. has a graph which shows how the historical avg changes throughout the year (oscillating between ~15000 and ~21000). The middle portion of the watershed from New Don Pedro Reservoir to above Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is characterized by deep canyons and forested terrain. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. Im curious: Lk Almanor is the 8th largest reservoir in CA. San Francisco voters have demonstrated their opposition to Thanks for the prompt reply! His recent work has examined the impacts of drought, threats to public lands and wildlife, and the nation's widening rural-urban divide. I know this might be difficult to display but Im very curious on the actual amounts of water consumed on a monthly basis and if this is somehow processed in a certain between what is agricultural and what is non-commercial etc? If you are on a computer, you can hover your cursor over a reservoir and the dashboard at the top will provide information about that individual reservoir. Restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley will allow all three power plants to remain operational but will reduce power generation at these by about 20% an average of about 350 million kWh per year. It does not meet the California definition of renewable energy. Francisco Bay Area. Over the summer, Gov. Love easy to read and understand information. }, 150); 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. "Some weather monitoring stations in the Feather River drainage received as much as 12 to 19 inches during the period of the storms," the department said. Trinity Lake, with a capacity of 2,447,650 acre-feet, had the smallest increase, from 29% in December to 30% in January. Folsom is like an overflow tank. The average for this time of year is approximately 4,659.57ft, plus or minus 39ft. https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?s=HTH An improvement: Could you include a bar for Last year at this date? California snowpack hits highest level this century for March. over the past few days. You can also share a custom URL by clicking the Save URL button which will put the custom URL into the URL bar of your browser which you can then copy and share. 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 Last week, I paid a visit to Hetch Hetchy. Its just small enough that the name doesnt appear as the bar is too thin. Monitoring location 11277500 is associated with a LAKE, RESERVOIR, IMPOUNDMENT in TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. For each of the top 8 reservoirs the storage has increased by a total of 217 kaf, however). Usually with warm ARs, you get a dramatic increase in inflow, which can fill even very large reservoirs relatively quickly, like Oroville in 2017. The worst possible scenario is it just remains completely dry. I do not see Diamond Valley Lake Resevoir on this page. The blue line indicates the reservoirs water level one year ago today. a minimum, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities "It is unknown how much area of the Feather River and Shasta Lake drainages are impacted by hydrophobic soils.". During late summer and early fall, it will be necessary to move stored supplies from Cherry or Don Pedro Reservoirs into the pipeline. The area around Shasta has more volcanic soils that absorb rainfall than the Feather River drainage. diversion of water? Restore Hetch Hetchy claimed the phrase had The adopted Plan addresses water quality issues affecting the ecosystem and fisheries of the Bay-Delta system. 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. It would be really interesting to visualize whether were able to replenish ground water this year after all the precipitation. But the growing water reserves dont please everyone. Turn right on to Hetch Hetchy Road - Evergreen Road and continue another 7.5 miles to the parking area for Hetchy Hetchy Reservoir next to the dam. If you look at the inflow data on the major reservoirs, its pretty flat. Eighty-five percent of the water comes from Sierra Nevada snowmelt stored in the Hetch Hetchy reservoir situated on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. Forty-six percent . Fish and Wildlife Service that provides an immediate $4 million investment for habitat improvements for fisheries in the Tuolumne River. After the reservoirs Different presidential administrations also have tried to address 2013, photo, the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is hazy with smoke . The name Hetch Hetchy is derived from a Sierra Miwok Have you looked into that side of the water management equation? Didnt realize how bad things were there. Hoping they start building more reservoirs soon. The cities of Burlingame, Hayward, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Redwood City and San Mateo, along with the Alameda County Water District, were among Bay Area communities whose support was influential in persuading Congress to pass the controversial Act, and President Woodrow Wilson to sign it. 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. I appreciate the information you are providing. I would turn this graph, 90 counterclockwise, and start the capacity along the bottom axis from left to right, with the biggest reservoirs on the left and the smaller ones on the right. http://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. This hike follows the shoreline of the reservoir with moderate up and downhill hiking. The surplus has renewed concerns about San Francisco stockpiling water at the expense of rivers and the fish and wildlife that live there. The SFPUC hoards water in dry years when they dont need to, said Peter Drekmeier, policy director at the conservation group Tuolumne River Trust. Great work. ", The difference in soil type in the two watersheds was likely another factor. 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. The snowpack acts as a natural reservoir and slowly releases water.. Its currently listed on this page as 29kaf full, but the usgs.gov page below says Hetch Hetchy is at 299.7kaf full. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and got her start in news at the Daily Californian newspaper at UC Berkeley where she majored in English literature. 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.. 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. Super frustrating. At the moment, I am not interested in the debate. Francisco Public Utilities Commissions 26 wholesale customers A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the The height of the row indicates how much water the reservoir could hold. While it may seem that Decembers production could get us through the rest of the season, Rizzardo explains that in hydrology, you need consistent water shed to keep soils happy. He fears that without more precipitation this season, well enter our third very dry year. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the It certainly looks dry at least until the last week in February, he said. With how we can now basically pinpoint future precipitation amounts at least a month in advance, no reason to not let these reservoirs fill up past historic averages for this date. System for more than 60 percent of their drinking water. May 24, 2022 - BAWSCA Statement About the Adoption of a Systemwide Water Use Reduction of 11%. 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. 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. November 10, 2022 - BAWSCA Statement on State Water-Policy Officials, SFPUC, and Districts Sign MOU for Tuolumne River to Help Recover Salmon While Protecting Water Reliability. Ill pass it along to friends. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite delivers water to 2.6 million Bay Area residents every day. Ive added it to my bookmarks for quick reference. 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. An official website of the United States government. Congressman Tom McClintock has re-introduced theYosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act, a bill that would allow non-motorized Sign up to receive blog posts and other news by email. Meant this comment for the integrated snowpack and reservoir view. The state's second-largest reservoir, Lake Oroville in Butte County, saw especially dramatic gains with a 30.4-foot rise in the water level and a 182,625-acre-foot increase in the total amount of water, data posted Tuesday from the California Department of Water Resources showed. Great Job on this site! In 2016, a Tuolumne County Superior Court judge dismissed the The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. 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. The reservoir is eight miles long and the largest single body of water in Yosemite. A question: the Historical Avg*, is it the value of year-today or natural year? He frequently writes about water, wildfire, climate and the American West. Reservoir Report 4,670 ft -0.02% today 100% of normal Normal Water lake or reservoir water surface elevation above ngvd 1929, ft at Cherry Lk Nr Hetch Hetchy Ca is currently 4,670 ft, approximately 100% of normal. 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? The snowpack there, which will eventually melt and flow into reservoirs, is already bigger than the average peak snowpack, which typically comes around April 1. What rates am I paying? Folsom Lake is letting the water flow out. In fact, thanks to a little snowmelt, water levels were up for all reservoirs from December to January. This file photo shows Shasta Lake. A truly excellent project. and its snowmelt-fed water supply, water from Hetch Hetchy The data on water storage comes from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Data Exchange Center.

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