", The difference in soil type in the two watersheds was likely another factor. This almost happened with the Orville Dam in 2017. However, I am interested in how much we are saving. This November, a group of environmental advocates will put forth a ballot measure that would require the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop a plan to drain Hetch Hetchy. Similar findings are described in theUC Davis studyRe-Assembling Hetch HetchyandUS Bureau of Reclamation study. Ive added it to my bookmarks for quick reference. She was previously an engagement reporter. Only modest new supplies would be required in the driest years. 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. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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). As of Feb. 1, the systems total water storage was just over 1.3 million acre-feet, or about 92% of capacity. All of this work is nothing short of brilliant. The water travels through a series of pipelines before it reaches the Bay Area and blends with five local reservoirs. San Francisco voters have demonstrated their opposition to It does not meet the California definition of renewable energy. DWR is one of many local, State and Federal entities that dictate water releases. Important Legacy real-time page. 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. BAWSCA agencies also are implementing water conservation and water recycling projects to help preserve this precious resource for their communities, and are working to identify alternate sources of water supply. She has been with SFGATE for more than 10 years. California boosts water deliveries to highest level in years, thanks to storms, California reservoir levels: Charts show water supply across the state, Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area. 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? SFPUC said as of this week, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir is at 92 percent capacity. Kellie Hwang is the newsletter editor for The San Francisco Chronicle. it will be cool if there is a way to track the change since Dec or some such date. Hetch Hetchy Water System The system originates more than 100 miles from its primary customers, in Yosemite National Park. Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Hetch Hetchy is Monitoring location 11275500. It used to be full (and beyond). Prior to The Chronicle, she worked as a data journalist for Honolulu Civil Beat, a watchdog news organization covering the Hawaiian islands. Its promising, but too early to let our guard down, said Joseph Sweiss, spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the citys water purveyor, in an email to The Chronicle. Monitoring location 11277500 is associated with a LAKE, RESERVOIR, IMPOUNDMENT in TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. You can also use it to monitor only the reservoirs you are most interested in. Located within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, the reservoir saw a sizable 21.31-foot bump in its water level and gained 36,300 acre-feet, according to Tuesday data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. } Water is rapidly flowing into the state's reservoirs. A wet December produced ample snowfall, which is still sitting at high elevations. We own and operate the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System which serves 2.7 million customers. For the higher elevations, more of their water comes directly from snowmelt. The BAWSCA agencies are therefore key stakeholders in ensuring the system serves as a reliable source of high quality water. This dashboard is great! Have you looked into that side of the water management equation? Constitution used to support the arguments to remove the dam was While the long-term voluntary agreement work continues, the SFPUC does not want to wait to restore the Tuolumne Rivers ecosystem. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from Yosemite to the San Francisco Bay Area. In another sign that Californias drought is easing, San Francisco captured more than a years worth of water in just one months time. Heres an example of that data for Shasta, where you can see the daily inflows and outflows: Navigation and Navigable Waters 33.208.82 Hetch Hetchy, Cherry Valley, and Don Pedro Dams and Reservoirs. Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. This other page: The north (side of the reservoir) usually has two waterfalls going at the best of times, but youll see up and down the canyon walls, if you look close, you count there are about 12 waterfalls running now, said Steve Ritchie, the SFPUCs assistant general manager of water enterprise, during a recent drought report to the agencys governing board. The commission plans to decide Nov. 23 whether to formally ask customers to conserve water. Water data back to 1956 are available online. Great graphs and very useful. Lake ShastaLevel before the storm on Oct. 22: 882.57 feetLevel after the storm on Nov. 1: 885.47 feetTotal rise: 2.9 feet, Storage before the storm: 970,859 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 1,001,879 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 31,020 acre-feet, Lake OrovilleLevel before the storm: 630.80 feetLevel after the storm: 661.20 feetTotal rise: 30.4 feet, Storage before the storm: 799,638 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 982,263 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 182,625 acre-feet, Hetch HetchyLevel before the storm: 3,729.68 feetLevel after the storm: 3,750.99 feetTotal rise: 21.31 feet, Storage before the storm: 221,500 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 257,800 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 36,300 acre-feet, Trinity LakeLevel before the storm: 2,209.55 feetLevel after the storm: 2,213.22 feetTotal rise: 3.67 feet, Storage before the storm: 648,675 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 672,930 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 24,255 acre-feet, Folsom LakeLevel before the storm: 370.28 feetLevel after the storm: 390.33 feetTotal rise: 20.05 feet, Storage before the storm: 214,225 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 318,577 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 104,352 acre-feet, New Melones LakeLevel before the storm: 916.28 feetLevel after the storm: 917.09 feetTotal rise: 0.81 feet, Storage before the storm: 822,619 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 827,786 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 5,167 acre-feet, Don PedroLevel before the storm: 723.96 feetLevel after the storm: 727.41 feetTotal rise: 3.45 feet, Storage before the storm: 970,226 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 995,836 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 25,610 acre-feet, McClureLevel before the storm: 663.70 feetLevel after the storm: 672.27 feetTotal rise: 8.4 feet, Storage before the storm: 180,900 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 198,467 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 17,210 acre-feet. Charts from the California Department of Water Resources show conditions at key state reservoirs on Oct. 22 (left) and on Nov. 2 (right). 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. Locked padlock A truly excellent project. For perspective, water demand across the SFPUC's service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. Take CA Highway 120 from the park toward Groveland. At times, nearly 90% of the flow of the Tuolumne River is piped off by the SFPUC and other water agencies in the region. Restore Hetch Hetchys subsequent appeal to the ruling was Francisco Bay Area. That puts it at 84 percent of where it would usually be usually at this time of year. Meant this comment for the integrated snowpack and reservoir view. supplies water to the San Francisco Bay Area. Its water supply Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, in the Sierra Nevada is 80% full, the ground is saturated and near-record rainfall has occurred in recent days. This local water is captured in reservoirs located in San Mateo and Alameda counties. Id only be interested in the totals from Oroville and Shasta. 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. 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. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the Lake Shasta and Mendocino are also well below average. I would like to make one small suggestion:. scenic mountain valley in a national park. This file photo shows Shasta Lake. Hetch Hetchy is only one of nine reservoirs in the San Francisco Public Utility Commissions water system. United States. Ive looked at reservoir sights for years. It was the only tool that I could find that would allow me to make a vertical marimekko graph. 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. All rights reserved. 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. Folsom is like an overflow tank. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11275500/#parameterCode=00054&period=P7D. over the past few days. A lock ( It certainly looks dry at least until the last week in February, he said. Yep. not passed until 1928 five years after the dam was built. Even with the latest precipitation, Folsoms values was unchanged. The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. finding an alternative water and power source (Hetchy Hetchy also I also added the ability to select specific reservoirs to display on the graph and share a custom URL which will point those selected reservoirs (click on list button on top right of dashboard). Why is it not listed? At this facility, which is shared with other water agencies, the city can stash water for credits against future draws on the river. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander. Reservoir levels rising. Before returning to the Bay Area, she held roles as transportation reporter and trending news reporter at the IndyStar in Indianapolis. Maybe bad data. 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. The amount stored is increasing, just not by a lot. Water data back to 1930 are available online. Lake Oroville. In 2021, the SFPUC and the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts launched a proactive pilot program with the U.S. lawsuit, saying Restore Hetch Hetchys arguments were preempted Northern California's reservoir levels continued to rise in the week after an atmospheric river slammed the state with torrential rain and high winds. Current conditions of LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NAVD 1988, LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NGVD 1929, and RESERVOIR STORAGE are available. Different presidential administrations also have tried to address 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 December, and on Feb. 7, it was up to 82%. 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. 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. If we reach 100% after the current rains and then it stops raining for the season, then our percentage will start going down. The captured water is piped 150 miles to the Bay Area. 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. For example, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park provides 85 percent of San Francisco's total water needs. "In contrast, the Shasta Lake drainage had only a couple of stations in excess of 10 inches whereas most received less. 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. Could the reason be that the water from Lake Alma or seems to be used for energy generation, and that there does not seem to be any agricultural or urban use? 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. Its currently listed on this page as 29kaf full, but the usgs.gov page below says Hetch Hetchy is at 299.7kaf full. a broad meaning that had been previously applied in an Add a button to convert the row heights to log scale. Each row represents one reservoir, with bars showing how much of the reservoir is filled (blue) and unfilled (brown). These sources include surface water stored in reservoirs located in the Sierra Nevada, Alameda County and San Mateo County, and groundwater supplies stored in a deep aquifer located in San Francisco and San Mateo counties. The valley is San Franciscos water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. They are releasing water into the canals. For the class we based all our designs on the USACE spillway design manual. environmental context. Thanks. The proportion of blue to brown will show how full it is, while the red line shows the historical level that reservoir is typically at for this date of the water year. All Rights Reserved. The middle portion of the watershed from New Don Pedro Reservoir to above Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is characterized by deep canyons and forested terrain. The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. Los Angeles,Orange CountyandSan Josehave developed ambitious water recycling programs and have vastly improved local groundwater management. All rights Heres where California reservoir levels stand after this weeks rains. dam and restoring the valley. Thank you for the time and effort in creating the graphs. https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?s=HTH If you are on a mobile device you can tap the reservoir to get that same info. It takes a fair amount of work to make graphs compared to other more plug-and-play libraries but its very customizable, which is a plus. I realize there we dont want to reservoirs overflowing, but why are we still below historical average? 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. The OShaughnessy Dam i s 300 feet tall only medium-sized by todays standards. 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. Wapama Falls (moderate) 5 mi (8 km) round-trip; 2 hours. use must be reasonable.. Thats a great suggestion and one that would be particularly helpful! A different story is unfolding at Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park, where water is being released to conserve and restore wildlife. Data have been checked by the reporting agency. Previously, Kellie covered dining news and trends, visual arts, events and nightlife for the Arizona Republic, and freelanced for the former Contra Costa Times. 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. The reservoir was at 75 percent capacity as of May 5, totaling 269,963 acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is nearly 326,000 gallons). 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. 95 percent of. I believe the spillway was designed by the State. Kudos to the designers. http://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park is seen in 2022. Best of luck out there in California! 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? SFGATE took a look at reservoir levels three days after the Oct. 24 storm and below we take another look, examining water level rises and storage increases at a broader range of reservoirs roughly a week after the atmospheric river event. Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the system's water. Trailhead coordinates: 37.946905, -119.787376 (37 56 48.85N 119 47 14.55W) For perspective, water demand across the SFPUCs service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. Absolutely zero reason to be releasing this much water from these reservoirs. During most years, there will be a 30-day shut down of the Hetch Hetchy source in the winter months. }, 150); 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. Trinity Lake, with a capacity of 2,447,650 acre-feet, had the smallest increase, from 29% in December to 30% in January. 7 days 30 days California reservoir levels: . globe.height = globe.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+40+"px"; 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.