What will Clear Lake’s level be on Oct. 1? That’s a question a lot of county residents are asking. With storms forecast for the fall and winter the lake level should rise to a normal level by the first of the year. However, until we receive substantial rainfall the lake level will continue to drop slowly. As of Monday it stood at 1.68 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. Yolo County can withdraw 1,969 acre-feet of water between now and Nov. 1, but they can’t take any more after that regardless of the lake level.
Clear Lake will reach its lowest point in November. This year the lake level is projected to be at slightly less than a foot on the Rumsey Gauge. Last year on Nov. 1 the lake level was minus-.83 feet.
For years Lake County residents have blamed Yolo County for the low lake levels during the late summer months. While it’s true Yolo County owns much of the water in the lake there are regulations governing how much water Yolo can take. This year Yolo County was limited to approximately 25,000 acre feet of water. That amounts to less than a one-foot drop in the lake level. Evaporation and water use by local residents accounts for much more than Yolo takes.
Even though the county should receive it first rainfall in October the lake won’t start filling until January. It initially takes at least five inches of rainfall before runoff begins flowing into the lake. Most of the runoff from the surrounding hills occurs between the months of January and March. Once the hills are saturated the lake can fill rapidly. In fact, the lake can fill much faster that it can be drained. In 1995 the peak inflow was 50,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). The maximum outflow at the dam is only 2,540 cfs.
Of course, there is little runoff during drought years. For example, this past winter the lake level maxed out at only 4.13 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. That’s more than three feet below a full lake, which is 7.56 feet, and the reason it’s so low now.
A low lake level does impact fishing. Clear Lake is normally a shallow lake, especially in the north end. For example, the depth near Lakeside County Park at the edges of the tules is only about a foot now. By October that same area will be only be a few inches. Vast areas of the north end of the lake will be too shallow to fish. The water depths at most of the docks in the Lakeport area are already less than 2 feet. That means most of the bass will move out into deeper water and be harder to locate. Low water means bass also school up and that means increased fishing pressure. In fact, this is already happening.
Most of the bass tournaments are scheduled to go out of Konocti Vista Casino and Resort in Lakeport or Redbud Park in Clearlake. Zero on the Rumsey Gauge means that both launching sites would have very low water. Of course, it also mean that the launching ramps at Library Park in Lakeport also would be experiencing low water levels.
There have been predictions that the upcoming winter will be wetter than normal. I certainly hope so. While I don’t want to see the lake rise to the flood stage, I’m hoping it rises to at least 8 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. If it does, it not only would help the fishery but would be a deterrent against algae blooms and excessive aquatic weed growth next summer. While no one wants to see lakeside homes flood, just about everyone would like the lake level to rise to a healthy level on the Rumsey Gauge. All the weather experts are predicting that a very strong El Nino will hit California this fall and winter and there will be record rainfall. If that occurs all bets are off and the lake level could even rise above 10 feet.
A special thanks to all the firefighters who worked hard to contain the Rocky and Jerusalem fires in Lake County and neighboring counties. They will never be forgotten. Local residents also showed why living in Lake County is so special. There were numerous reports of locals picking up the tab for firefighters when they were dining out at local restaurants and shopping at local stores. The firefighters were touched by all of your generosity.
