-September 19,2023-
Runoff coming down the mighty Kings River is the most ever this water year says Kings Water Master Steve Haugen of the Kings River Water Association. It is the wettest year since the dam on Kings was built in 1954. With just a few weeks left until October 1 and the start of a new water year, runoff now exceeds both 1983 and 1969 numbers and is expected to reach 4.5 million acre feet by Sept 30. That compares with 1983 runoff at 4.47 million AF and 1969 at 4.38 million AF, he adds.
The Kings River is the largest river draining the southern Sierra Nevada with an average annual flow of 1,791,000 acre-feet. We are at more than 2.5% of average this year.
Not that it is still snowing in the upper Kings watershed today but runoff is continual from marsh meadows and lakes and even some small batches of snow.
The continual flows coming down the mountains are still filling the million acre ft reservoir that is nearly three quarters full today. There is the need to draw down the lake to around 600,000AF by December 1, says Haugen. The vacating of the reservoir is required before this winter storm season in a year where there is an expected strong El Nino pattern that could “raise the odds” of a second wet season. An early strong storm could put a crimp in that plan.
Helping to manage the runoff this year involves several factors that have made that job a little easier. Haugen says after a wet few months “the April to July period was driest on record”. In addition, a “cool spring weather pattern held back the snowpack” allowing the management of downstream flows this spring and summer. While there were downstream impacts-Tulare Lake filled up- it could have been worse.
Kings officials are looking forward to discussing an increase in channel capacity as flows enter the basin with options like raising levees or removing sediment.
Meanwhile, all that rain has helped groundwater levels come back.In Tulare as of August 2023, the average standing water level depth was 215 feet, representing a 19-foot rise from a year ago (234 feet).