Stay up-to-date with breaking news and upcoming events. But it has flooded nine miles of a glacier-carved valley and blocks access to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne and other nearby areas. Great stuff. Thank you for a beautiful job. 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. You can find the charts below from the California Department of Water Resources website. 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. pertained to water that was wasted, and there was no claim that The advocacy group Restore Hetch Hetchy took its case for It used to be full (and beyond). Due to its high-altitude location at 3,900 feet above sea level Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the system's water. Generation at the Kirkwood power plant would depend on the natural flow of the Tuolumne River, and would be significantly diminished during late summer and fall. By a large measure, damming and flooding Hetch Hetchy is the most significant damage ever allowed in any of our national parks. Instructions: Required fields are marked *. San Francisco and the thousands of suburban . Could you also show each reservoirs level as a function of time? 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. function reloadiframes(){ A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the 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. And while one storm didn't come close to ending the drought, some reservoirs in Northern California, especially those that fell right in the path of the storm, saw significant gains. 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. https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?s=SHA Water data back to 1930 are available online. The area around Shasta has more volcanic soils that absorb rainfall than the Feather River drainage. If you are on a mobile device you can tap the reservoir to get that same info. Hours: Year-round, but only accessible by car when the Hetch Hetchy Road is open. Thanks. These graphs will always read low because they represent the percentage of the seasonal average at some point before the end of the season. Francisco Public Utilities Commissions 26 wholesale customers But tearing down O'Shaughnessy Dam in order to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley would be a disaster. 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. Quite an eye opener. reserved. Francisco Bay Area. Hi, I started by using this page (https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES) to determine which reservoirs to include and for some reason Almanor isnt on the list. The reservoir is now projected to cost $4.4 billion, with Prop. The judge also noted the provision of the state River. It was the only tool that I could find that would allow me to make a vertical marimekko graph. Take CA Highway 120 from the park toward Groveland. Near the town of La Grange, the river exits the Sierra Nevada foothills and flows through a gently sloping alluvial valley that is incised into Pleistocene alluvial fans. Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. Impounded by OShaughnessy 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. Getting There. 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. It used to be full (and beyond). O'Shaughnessy Dam was built on the Tuolumne River in 1923 to create Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The construction of the Hetch Hetchy Railroad took place from 1915 to 1918. Only modest new supplies would be required in the driest years. Official websites use .gov Im curious: Lk Almanor is the 8th largest reservoir in CA. How Fast Are California Reservoirs Filling Up? Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Folsom is like an overflow tank. Steve Ritchie, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's assistant general manager for water, said the additional water amounted to roughly 11% of the reservoir's total capacity. A separate vote would have been Check out my **new combined California reservoir and snowpack visualizer** to compare to historical values, as well asthe California precipitation tracker and California snowpack visualizer. In addition, San Francisco receives approximately one-tenth of its power from hydroelectricity generated by the gravity-driven flow from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The blue line indicates the reservoirs water level one year ago today. Great visualization Chris! One acre-foot is the equivalent of one acre of land covered in one foot of water. Awesome work!! One of the most impressive was Hetch Hetchy, which provides drinking water to 2.6 million people in San Francisco and other Bay Area communities. Tracy Barbutes, Freelance / Special to The Chronicle, Heres where California reservoir levels stand after this weeks rains. For perspective, water demand across the SFPUCs service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. Part of the lake is on the California side, but it has zero California water impact beyond the immediate Tahoe residents. 7 days 30 days She has been with SFGATE for more than 10 years. All rights reserved. It is on the graph. the Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state. Our drinking water comes from a variety of protected sources carefully managed by the SFPUC. This dashboard provides a bit more detail on the state of each of the reservoirs while also showing an aggregate total. During late summer and early fall, it will be necessary to move stored supplies from Cherry or Don Pedro Reservoirs into the pipeline. //this function is called from the javascript from within the iframe after the contents of iframe are loaded (and after an additional 150ms delay) Lake Almanor isnt controlled by DWR for flood/supply. Shasta is the reservoir with the largest capacity and so it is the tallest row. Privacy Policy | 2011-2021 San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. That includes the Tuolumne River, which provides water via Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to Bay Area customers. Assistant General Manager for Water Steven Ritchie credits the way the system is managed along with lower. This chart only shows reservoirs filled via natural flow/rainfall. The recent spate of storms lifted the statewide snowpack to 190% of average for the start of the month, and more snow is on the way. According to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Hetch Kellie Hwang is the newsletter editor for The San Francisco Chronicle. This file photo shows Shasta Lake. Much of the recent inflow was to Hetch Hetchy, which can hold. While the long-term voluntary agreement work continues, the SFPUC does not want to wait to restore the Tuolumne Rivers ecosystem. Thanks for the prompt reply! }, 150); setTimeout(function (){ 1 kaf is the amount of water that would cover 1 acre in one thousand feet of water (or 1000 acres in water in 1 foot of water). Thanks for taking the time to do that. however, Ill update the code to include it soon. globe.height = globe.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+40+"px"; Just in case a large storm hits, that way they dont reach 100% capacity. Locked padlock rejected by an appellate court and the California Supreme Court 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. John Muir and the . Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the systems water. 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? A diverse mix of sources protects us from potential disruptions due to emergencies or natural disasters, provides resiliency during periods of drought, and helps us ensure a long-term, sustainable water supply as we address issues such as climate uncertainty, regulatory changes and population growth. Trailhead coordinates: 37.946905, -119.787376 (37 56 48.85N 119 47 14.55W) Different presidential administrations also have tried to address Restoring Hetch Hetchy will require some changes in how San Francisco moves and stores water. Great work. San Francisco's water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. use must be reasonable.. Current and Historical Visualization, https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?s=HTH, https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?s=SHA, https://engaging-data.com/ca-reservoir-level/, https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES, Visualizing Californias Water Storage Reservoirs and Snowpack, Interactive California Reservoir Levels Dashboard. 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. "Soils that have become hydrophobic due to wildfire can also contribute to increased runoff because the water is less able to penetrate the burned soil," the department said. In another sign that Californias drought is easing, San Francisco captured more than a years worth of water in just one months time. Its great seeing all the reservoirs in California at or near historical averages. Also, do they provide inflows and outflows for locations? I noticed that Folsom does not change whereas every reservoir changes on an hourly update. 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. It has no natural inflow or out flow. Its supposed to be brown. Next feature request: wire in aquifer level data! Current conditions of LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NGVD 1929 and RESERVOIR STORAGE are available. 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. She was previously an engagement reporter. But Sites would be what's called an off-channel . I had a class in spillway design many years ago. Hi Keith, you could de-select the large reservoirs from the menu at the top right. 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. Its just small enough that the name doesnt appear as the bar is too thin. Not only does it supply 85 percent of the water for 2.6 million people in San Francisco, controlled releases via the O'Shaughnessy Dam are helping preserve downstream specieseven in dry . 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. The Bay Area's main reservoir is up 21 feet. At the moment, I am not interested in the debate. Hetchy refers to a valley in the Sierra Nevada and a reservoir that They also built a spillway that was too steep and did not install energy dissipators along the spillway. Have you looked into that side of the water management equation? 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 . Data and Tools Major snowstorm might leave you stranded, New 101 express lanes opens in Bay Area. supplies water to the San Francisco Bay Area. Hetch Hetchy is only one of nine reservoirs in the San Francisco Public Utility Commissions water 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. I appreciate the information you are providing. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. At this facility, which is shared with other water agencies, the city can stash water for credits against future draws on the river. Reservoir levels rising. Twenty of San We provide water directly to customers in San Francisco and wholesale through 26 Water agencies in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties. I notice Briones Reservoir is not on the list. 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 source water from SFPUC is typically from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. . best to drain the valley. Is it because the laws have changed on how much each reservoir can hold or is it in anticipation of significantly more rain? Voters rejected a 2012 Remaining Capacity text in the legend should be brown? 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. This is the first state (of 6 I have lived in) that has had water police and restrictions. and its snowmelt-fed water supply, water from Hetch Hetchy Even with the latest precipitation, Folsoms values was unchanged. Water data back to 1930 are available online. Hetch Hetchy is only one of nine reservoirs in the San Francisco Public Utility Commission's water system. I hear from the farmers that we waste 80% of the water by flushing it into the ocean. I also hear the environmentalists say, the streams and wildlife need water, so flush it into the ocean. Its an interesting dilemma. Its water supply Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, in the Sierra Nevada is 80% full, . I find myself coming back to this every few days to check on our water . His recent work has examined the impacts of drought, threats to public lands and wildlife, and the nation's widening rural-urban divide. For the class we based all our designs on the USACE spillway design manual. Echoing the sentiments of famed naturalist John Muir, members say the glacially-carved Hetch Hetchy Valley that the reservoir sits in is comparable in grandeur to Yosemite Valley and should not be flooded. I love this this site too. Spring snowmelt runs down the Tuolumne River and fills Hetch Hetchy, the largest reservoir in our water system. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir that supplies San Francisco, seen here in February, is among those that have refilled after two months of storms. diversion of water? Restore Hetch Hetchy claimed the phrase had Delivering approximately 260 million gallons of water per day, the regional system consists of over 280 miles of pipelines, over 60 miles of tunnels, 11 reservoirs, five pump stations and two water treatment plants. Wapama Falls (moderate) 5 mi (8 km) round-trip; 2 hours. You dont see runoff right away, the snow is still up there, frozen, doing what we want it to do, he said. Thats up more than 400,000 acre-feet since early December, before the unrelenting series of atmospheric river storms blew through California between Christmas and mid-January. Another not monitored by the State? Only improvement I would suggest is an improvement of the display of the smaller reservoirs so the names are readable. Important Legacy real-time page. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Subscribe to receive email notifications of new content. In fact, thanks to a little snowmelt, water levels were up for all reservoirs from December to January. Fish and Wildlife Service that provides an immediate $4 million investment for habitat improvements for fisheries in the Tuolumne River. This would allow us to see important, but noise-level reservoirs like hetch hetchy. Constitution used to support the arguments to remove the dam was Lake Mendocino and Lake Berryessa water levels stayed the same. Our flagship blog features analysis of news from our staff and announcements of upcoming events. If we reach 100% after the current rains and then it stops raining for the season, then our percentage will start going down. I see many of the local canals flowing with lots of water. Thinking more about it. The problem is that we have no idea of knowing ahead of time what kind of storms well have and how long theyll last, but the reservoir operators have to be super careful and extra cautious, so they periodically let the water flow out. I think the problem is with the CDEC database (as the LakesOnline website also has had incorrectly high information). Maybe just acre/ft with ^ or down arrow. At times, nearly 90% of the flow of the Tuolumne River is piped off by the SFPUC and other water agencies in the region. the city wastes water, so it was a moot issue. The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. Good info to know. "In contrast, the Shasta Lake drainage had only a couple of stations in excess of 10 inches whereas most received less. Even with all the rain and floods, still a long way to fill them to capacity. In whats known as the Bay-Delta Plan, state water regulators are amid a years-long effort to negotiate a policy for how much water should be kept in rivers that flow to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to meet the needs of both people and wildlife. The name Hetch Hetchy is derived from a Sierra Miwok More about the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement can be found athttp://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. 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. Commission. 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. How Much Water is in California Reservoirs? City officials have touted their efforts to help salmon, for example by timing water releases to assist with migration and restoring breeding grounds. The Department of Water Resources, which manages the state's water supply, said in a statement that there are several possible reasons for the difference in inflow amounts between the two reservoirs. Maybe bad data. Thanks for the link. Absolutely zero reason to be releasing this much water from these reservoirs. LK ELEANOR NR HETCH HETCHY CA. It could be the 180% of historical average of snowpack, which will be melting in a couple months. A truly excellent project. The group says the recent plethora of water shows that the city could do without Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, by using other storage facilities that have filled and pursuing new projects to capture the surplus. http://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. I havent spent much time looking at it but that data is on the CDEC website. Water is such a fascinating topic and Id hate to have to be a water manager making a decision on how much to release to avoid reservoir flooding. Especially for small ones it is hard to identify them and click on them. The water is delivered by a gravity-based system and aqueduct to How come the totals disagree with the cal map graphic? They are draining it currently so that it can serve as that overflow if needed given how much rain is coming down and expected over the next week. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11275500/#parameterCode=00054&period=P7D. What rates am I paying? Love easy to read and understand information. From the main road, it's about a 20- to 25-minute drive to the parking area. I wonder why it doesnt work for you.