Turning wet in northern California
Concerns over spreading drought across middle California may ease some in the next week with a forecast of an atmospheric river diving into the northern part of the state February 1 -7 with some Central Valley and Sierra spillover toward the end of that period. The rain and snow could boost reservoir supply. Right now Shasta Lake is at 131% of average although January has seen little snow in the Tahoe area.Still the week’s forecast calls for 6-9 inches of precip in the Shasta Lake region.
So it’s not just Southern California that has concerns over this water year. The US Drought Monitor says dry conditions have impacted not just Southern California – with some relief in the past week- but in the Central Valley – now listed as “abnormally dry” after most January rains failed to develop. Hanford has seen only 0.28in in the month of January.
“We are quite a bit behind,” says Kings River watermaster Steve Haugen, adding that ” we’re looking for storms…looking for storms.” As of now Pine Flat is 48% full.
Low canal deliveries?
Ouch: Friant Water says at their January 23rd FWA Board of Directors meeting that initial internal FWA models are showing a disappointing potential 30-40% Class 1 allocation for the 2025/26 WY based on 75-90% exceedance forecasting. The initial allocation will be announced by Reclamation on or about February 20th based on then-current conditions and hydrologic forecasts.