Above-average rain, snowpack do not pose runoff threat

Ample water bodes well for reservoirs

The last several weeks of rain and snow have improved the outlook of the current water year. Aside from some issues along the Sacramento River, local experts said the region’s flood control system has been performing well.

The last water year saw belowaverage precipitation across the state. The new water year – Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019 – started slow but has since improved, especially with the recent string of storms.

As of today, the Yuba watershed has about 120 percent of its average snowpack, 114 percent of its rain total for this date and 80 percent of its average inflow into New Bullards Bar Reservoir, said Curt Aikens, general manager of the Yuba Water Agency.

The current snowpack is at 110 percent of its average for April 1 – a date typically marking the end of the wet season used to help determine how the water year is shaping up.

“This is a good position to be in since on average at this date we are about 80 percent of the way through the snow season. While the recent warm rain melted a very small portion of the snowpack, the overall amount of snow continued to climb with the latter storm being cold and continuing to produce snow,” Aikens said.

Ample snowpack is key because it creates a reserve of water that is released through summer months.

Aikens said the water agency is expecting an average water year even if the weather turns dry moving forward, with plenty of water in the system to serve irrigation customers. He expects the snowpack will fill New Bullards Bar Reservoir.

“While we are in good shape from a flood protection perspective with 126 percent of the required flood space (equates to 44,000 acre feet of excess flood space), we are always vigilant about being prepared for a big flood storm,” Aikens said. “Our forecast coordinated operations program is one of the best in preparing us for flood flows on the Yuba and Feather rivers.”

Current projections indicate that snowmelt will occur in a manageable pace this spring, he said.

The flood control system along the Feather River has also been preforming to standards, said Andrew Stresser, general manager of Levee District 1, which manages the levees that protect Yuba City and parts of south Sutter County.

“Everything has been performing exactly as it should be. We never reached monitor stage along the Feather River, we peaked just short of that,” Stresser said. “We will continue to monitor levels for the remainder of the season.”

Sacramento River work

The most notable action that has occurred in this region’s