Clear Lake is holding steady, Lake Oroville’s water level has been inching up, but the latest report on snowpack suggests no one should expect it to get much higher.
Monday the Department of Water Resources automated monitoring system put the snowpack in the Northern Sierra/Trinity Region — which includes the Feather River watershed — at just 7 percent of normal for this time of year.
It’s an unprecedented low level, that means not much more water will be flowing into the lake. The figure is the equivalent of 2.1 inches of water, or about one fairly weak storm in the mountains.
On Tuesday afternoon, Clear Lake measured 4.51 on the Rumsey gauge — down from a recent peak of 4.56 , but a slight increase from Monday’s mark. The recent splash of rain helped secure a stable Rumsey mark, which the U.S. Geological Survey expects to continue. For the month so far, the lake has remained between 4.46 and 4.56 Rumsey. Full, Clear Lake tops 7 feet on the Rumsey gauge.
As of Monday, the surface of Lake Oroville was just under 761 feet in elevation, up about 4.5 feet since the start of March. But the 1.78 million acre-feet of water stored is just 50 percent of capacity, and 68 percent of normal for this time of year.
DWR has already said it doesn’t expect to deliver any Oroville water through the State Water Project this year, saving it for the possibility of yet another dry year. As a result the lake level might not decline is precipitously as it normally does to meet summer water demands.
The state will be delivering 20 percent of its contracted amount of water, as it saved runoff from storms in December and February in San Luis Reservoir. There’s 1.37 million acre-feet stored there, 67 percent of capacity and 75 percent of normal for this time of year. That water will be delivered to state water customers.
Shasta Lake is in a slightly better situation than Oroville. There’s 2.67 million acre-feet there, 59 percent of capacity and 74 percent of normal for this time of year. But again, there’s just a trace of snow in the mountains, meaning not much more will flow in.
The federal government has said it won’t be delivering any water to its Central Valley Project contractors.
As for the local forecast, near-record high temperatures are anticipated before the weekend. According to Accuweather, the best opportunity for rainfall detected on current forecast models will not come until April 8.
