LAKE COUNTY — The amount of water being released into Yolo County from Clear Lake is on its way up, according to water officials in Lake and Yolo counties.
The third straight year of drought conditions limits the amount Yolo can take to 25,733 acre-feet for the year, according to Lake County Water Resources Engineer Tom Smythe. The Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District has the right to take 150,000 acre feet from Clear Lake when the lake level is full, which measures 7.56 on the Rumsey Gauge. An acre-foot is the amount of water that would cover an acre of land with a foot of water.
“I get phone calls from people who want to know what the lake level will be on Labor Day, and should they plan on being here and bringing their boat,” Smythe said.
Jennifer Reed, project manager for the Yolo district, said Lake County residents can expect the district to take calculated monthly percentages of the amount the district is allowed this year under the Solano Decree.
The district began drawing lake water at a rate of approximately 45 cubic feet per second (CFS) on May 20.
“Two hundred seventy CFS would fill your average backyard swimming pool in 10 seconds,” Smythe said.
The release decreased to approximately 30 CFS for a day on May 21, then increased to approximately 50 CFS until Tuesday, when Yolo began to draw approximately 140 CFS. Thursday, the flow was up to approximately 250 CFS.
The water is released through Cache Creek Dam as early as April, extending through October each year. The Solano Decree also says Yolo can only draw Clear Lake”s water if he lake reaches 3.22 on the Rumsey Gauge by May 1. “Yolo is prohibited from lowering the lake below 0 Rumsey,” Smythe said. “Evaporation is about 3 feet per year, during the summer. The amount of water they are taking amounts to almost 8 inches of water.” Smythe said that will drop the lake level to approximately 0.15 on the Rumsey Gauge. He estimated Yolo will draw 70 percent of this year”s allotment by mid-July.
Smythe said he is developing a projection for what the lake”s levels will be during the summer. Information about dam releases is available online at http://watershed.co.lake.ca.us by clicking on the “Current Clear Lake Dam Releases, USGS” link.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
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