PHILLIPS STATION, Calif. — Melting of this year’s massive Sierra Nevada snowpack will cause California rivers to surge and possibly overflow their banks well into the summer this year, officials said Monday.
Among the first to be affected will be the Merced River running through Yosemite National Park, which is expected to hit flood stage by mid-week with waters rising a foot above its banks, forecasters warned.
Brown ends drought state of emergency in most of California Large amounts of water are being released from reservoirs downstream from the Sierra Nevada to lower their levels in anticipation of the heavier-than-normal melt off of snowpack, which is nearly double its normal size.
People who flock to the Tuolumne River for recreation should be prepared for rapid and dangerous river water, said Calvin Curtis of the Turlock Irrigation District.
It’s going to be colder than it has been," he said.
The heavy snowpack today blanketing the 400-mile (644-kilometer) long Sierra Nevada stands in contrast to two years ago when barely any measureable snow remained at this time of year amid California’s drought, state water managers said.
RELATED: Conservation groups concerned over easing of water restrictions The California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program on Monday measured that snowpack contains nearly twice the amount of water typically found in the snow at this time of year.
While the heavy snow and its high water content will help prevent water shortages that California residents endured over the last several years, the tough winter was cruel to mountain wildlife – killing off bighorn sheep and lengthening hibernation periods for bears.
During California’s drought, the iconic Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep moved from lower elevations higher up into the mountains in search of food, said Jason Holley, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The snowdrifts have also kept many bears hibernating in the remote wilderness inside their dens one month longer than normal because food is still scarce, Holley said.

; Bids for Oroville Dam repair top state estimates; $275.4 million the lowest; Governor defends State’s handling of Oroville Dam Spillway emergency; ‘Broken promises’: County officials, public sound off on current and historical problems at Oroville Dam; USGS finds vast reserves of salty groundwater underneath California; Report: We can’t stop sea level rise, only slow it down; How legalized marijuana applies to boaters; and more … In the news this weekend … How the drought changed California forever: “California’s historic five-year drought is officially over, washed away with the relentlessly drenching rains, floods and snowstorms of this winter.
“This was the wake-up call of the century.” … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: How the drought changed California forever State will increase water deliveries to Southern California: “State officials said Friday Southern California water agencies will soon get close to a full of allotment of water — 85 percent — following several winter storms that broke rain and snow records across the state.
The announcement came one week after Gov.
Bids for Oroville Dam repair top state estimates; $275.4 million the lowest: “Blowing past state officials’ financial projections, three construction contractors submitted bids for the Oroville Dam repairs that begin at $275 million, the Department of Water Resources said Saturday.
… ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Bids for Oroville Dam repair top state estimates; $275.4 million the lowest Governor defends State’s handling of Oroville Dam Spillway emergency: “California Gov.
… ” Read more from CBS News here: Governor defends State’s handling of Oroville Dam Spillway emergency ‘Broken promises’: County officials, public sound off on current and historical problems at Oroville Dam: “A deluge of grievances regarding long-stalled relicensing, management and repairs at the Oroville Dam prompted by the recent crisis at the reservoir were aired at the Butte County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday (April 11).
If we encounter it in the course of our operations, we will enforce those laws,” says Lt. Cmdr.
… ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Dear California water officials: After Oroville Dam scare, why should we trust you?
“There is no river like the Eel.
Maven’s Notebook where California water news never goes home for the weekend

BLOG ROUND-UP: Bloggers on the snow survey, Delta tunnels polling, DWR dams and spillway repairs, San Joaquin River restoration, flood improvements, and more ….
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to waste: Anna Wearn writes, “The results are in: California’s snowpack is 164% of average, according to the latest Sierra Nevada snow survey.
… ” Read more from the NRDC Switchboard blog here: Water, water everywhere but not a drop to waste Public Policy Institute of California: 77% of Californians Think Governor’s California WaterFix is Important to the State’s Future: Californians for Water Security write: “This week, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) published a poll which highlights that 77 percent of Californians view Governor Jerry Brown’s California WaterFix as “important.” In fact, 51 percent think it is “very important.” The poll, which appeared in the report “Californians & Their Government,” also specifies that the majority of California residents in favor of water infrastructure improvements, in the aftermath of winter storms, flooding and the crisis at Oroville Dam.
According to the latest PPIC statewide survey, 61% of Californians say that more spending on water and flood management infrastructure is very important for their part of California.
The Yuba County Water Agency played a key role in helping manage the Oroville Dam spillway challenges earlier this year by coordinating its releases on the Yuba River with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
… ” Read more from the Water Wired blog here: Another groundwater case for SCOTUS?
Rodney Smith writes, “Hydrowonk gratefully received an invitation to attend the Salton Sea Tour sponsored by the Water Education Foundation on March 16th, the day the Natural Resources Agency released a 10-Year Plan for habitat and dust suppression projects in the Salton Sea.
Given that none of them has ever shown enthusiasm for state environmental protection, it’s possible whether their rule concern is federalism or deregulation.
It’s difficult, however, to see a case for a wholesale abrogation of federal authority in favor of the states.
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Flows out of the Hyatt Power Plant are at 12,900 cfs.
We’re modeling and forecasting that twice a day, rerunning our reservoir models and looking at what that might do to reservoir elevations, and that will impact when we start stepping down the reservoir from 50,000 to 40,000 and if there’s some other steps as we go down to ultimately zero about a week from now.” “The Hyatt Power Plant is running right now at 12,900, so as we step up our flows on the spillway today, we’ll start backing off on the Hyatt Power Plant.
The idea is to make sure nothing moves around while we go through this spill event.
If we have a mild cool spring, early summer, then our models suggest we can get away two spills, including this spill today, so the operation of the Hyatt Power Plant is very helpful, to not only get water out of the reservoir, but help balance downstream water conditions within the flood control system.” “In other words, with Hyatt operating, we’ll have about 13,000 cfs, any water that we can spill out of the spillway or come out of the Thermalito afterbay will help minimize these large elevation changes within the river system all the way down the system.” “We do have flood operations.
So we expect that with the 50,000 cfs, again we’ll be balancing those flows today between Hyatt Power House going to 0, discharges from the Thermalito Afterbay, and then ultimately the spill off the spillway all through the number of hours midday today.” “We expect water levels within the Feather River to move up between 10 and 15 feet depending upon the geometry within that flood control system, so an important message today is please stay out of the flood control system.
At some point, we won’t be able to get additional water over the spillway, so again that water has to come through that Hyatt Power Plant.” “The work on the emergency spillway is almost done.
So this week, a number of drill rigs have been mobilized to the site to start collecting the geotechnical information that they need to start vetting out all the information they need to kind of fine tune the corrective actions or the mitigation actions that are needed to reinforce and repair the flood control spillway and the emergency spillway.” “There are some no regrets projects that we’re moving fast on.
We need to make sure the resources are available to do one or more options.
We’re doing two because if there’s a critical flaw in any of that – schedule, resource needs, or just the design, then we can off that and choose the other option.” The latest pictures from the Department of Water Resources … Erosion control measures and dredging continues along the diversion pool below the Lake Oroville flood control spillway on March 15, 2017.
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From the Department of Water Resources: Crews working on widening the channel at the base of the main spillway have made significant progress towards the goal of creating enough space to allow Hyatt Power Plant to operate a full capacity.
Debris removal lowered the water level in the channel at the base of the spillway.
This will allow DWR to manage the water level in the lake more efficiently.
Once fully operational, the plant can release up to 13,000 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) as DWR manages reservoir inflows and outflows of spring runoff.
DWR does not expect Lake Oroville to rise above 860 feet elevation while spillway flows are halted.
The total flow to the Feather River remains at 2500 cfs.
Work continues on the area below the emergency spillway.
The latest pictures from Department of Water Resources … Work and assessment continues on the damaged Oroville Dam main spillway in Oroville, California, March 3, 2017.
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From the Department of Water Resources: Crews removing a debris pile, estimated at roughly 1.5 million cubic yards, continue to make progress two days after the Department of Water Resources (DWR) halted flows down the damaged flood control spillway.
Lake Oroville is not expected to rise above 860 feet elevation while spillway flows are halted.
That lake level would be 41 feet below the level of the emergency spillway.
“We are working around-the-clock to get the power plant back online.” DWR does not expect the anticipated wet weather to interfere with debris removal or to create a lake elevation concern.
This complex of small reservoirs just downstream of Oroville Dam will provide enough water to maintain flows for approximately six days.
Work continues on the area below the emergency spillway, access roads, and other areas eroded by the emergency spillway runoff.
DWR continues to monitor the status of the dam, spillways, the Hyatt Power Plant and the progress of repair activities.
For a timeline of events regarding the Oroville spillway incident: http://www.water.ca.gov/oroville-spillway/index.cfm The latest photos from Department of Water Resources … Biologists from Fish and Wildlife and the California Department of Water Resources count the small salmon captured after the waters of the Feather River receded from the reduced outflow from the damaged Oroville Dam spillway.
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