hetch hetchy reservoir level percentage
Getting There. Part of the lake is on the California side, but it has zero California water impact beyond the immediate Tahoe residents. It used to be full (and beyond). Kurtis Alexander is an enterprise reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, with a focus on natural resources and the environment. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the Northern California's reservoir levels continued to rise in the week after an atmospheric river slammed the state with torrential rain and high winds. At the same time, theyve also said its critical to maintain sufficient water supplies to keep Bay Area communities and its economy running during a prolonged drought. How can I match up other monitoring locations similar to the ones on this Interactive Dashboard? With modest additional investments San Francisco will be able to maintain an uninterrupted supply of high quality Tuolumne River water. Upcountry and the Bay Area. In fact, thanks to a little snowmelt, water levels were up for all reservoirs from December to January. function resizeframe(){ One of the big challenges in water management is controling the release. I wonder why it doesnt work for you. This was helpful to project seasonal trends & storm impacts. Thank you for a beautiful job. The citys water system also includes a water bank at Don Pedro Reservoir along the Tuolumne River, which was full as of Feb. 1. Arg. This is wonderful information. required on whether to demolish OShaughnessy Dam. Add a button to convert the row heights to log scale. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander. The main reason for the discrepancy, the department said, is that the focus of the atmospheric river was generally between the Golden Gate and Mount Lassen, meaning that the Feather River watershed received much more rainfall than the Shasta Lake drainage area. maybe label the vertical axis with aggregate total or system total capacity. not passed until 1928 five years after the dam was built. Hetch Hetchy Water System The system originates more than 100 miles from its primary customers, in Yosemite National Park. California boosts water deliveries to highest level in years, thanks to storms, California reservoir levels: Charts show water supply across the state, Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area. For the class we based all our designs on the USACE spillway design manual. 2022 All Rights Reserved. Here's what that means. Privacy Policy | 2011-2021 San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The Water Education Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, One acre-foot is the equivalent of one acre of land covered in one foot of water. Wonderful site. How Much Water is in California Reservoirs? It carried workers and materials for the dam, as well as tourists, postage and other amenities. Major snowstorm might leave you stranded, New 101 express lanes opens in Bay Area. reservoir violates the California Constitution specifically the Read more about the data team and their work. I would turn this graph, 90 counterclockwise, and start the capacity along the bottom axis from left to right, with the biggest reservoirs on the left and the smaller ones on the right. At times, nearly 90% of the flow of the Tuolumne River is piped off by the SFPUC and other water agencies in the region. November 10, 2022 - BAWSCA Statement on State Water-Policy Officials, SFPUC, and Districts Sign MOU for Tuolumne River to Help Recover Salmon While Protecting Water Reliability. Tracy Barbutes, Freelance / Special to The Chronicle, Heres where California reservoir levels stand after this weeks rains. Sometimes this is well done sometimes it is poorly done. Thanks for the link. Its currently listed on this page as 29kaf full, but the usgs.gov page below says Hetch Hetchy is at 299.7kaf full. . drained by the Tuolumne City officials have touted their efforts to help salmon, for example by timing water releases to assist with migration and restoring breeding grounds. How Fast Are California Reservoirs Filling Up? https://engaging-data.com/ca-reservoir-level/ thanks. Current conditions of LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NGVD 1929 and RESERVOIR STORAGE are available. While it may seem that Decembers production could get us through the rest of the season, Rizzardo explains that in hydrology, you need consistent water shed to keep soils happy. He fears that without more precipitation this season, well enter our third very dry year. Our drinking water comes from a variety of protected sources carefully managed by the SFPUC. Born in Seoul, Yoohyun began her career in Arizona, where she worked for two of the state's largest newspapers covering various beats, including criminal justice and education. It didnt end the drought, but it was definitely really good," said Ritchie. mandate within The worst possible scenario is it just remains completely dry. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. has a graph which shows how the historical avg changes throughout the year (oscillating between ~15000 and ~21000). Maybe bad data. This is my first year watching the levels, so maybe Im missing something. Additionally, the bounty helps the more than two dozen communities in Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties that get their water from the city. Constitution used to support the arguments to remove the dam was Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. You can also share a custom URL by clicking the Save URL button which will put the custom URL into the URL bar of your browser which you can then copy and share. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Hoping they start building more reservoirs soon. In another sign that Californias drought is easing, San Francisco captured more than a years worth of water in just one months time. James Q. Martin / Restore Hetch Hetchy Show More Show Less 4 of 7 Located in the northwest portion of Yosemite National Park, Hetch I previously made a bar graph showing the overall level of water in the major California reservoirs. It does not meet the California definition of renewable energy. Nate, thanks for the insight. An improvement: Could you include a bar for Last year at this date? San Franciscos water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. Could you also do the same for the Colorado River reservoirs to see how they are fairing? Thanks for developing it, and for sharing it with the rest of us! The area around Shasta has more volcanic soils that absorb rainfall than the Feather River drainage. reserved. How do I contact support? I would like to make one small suggestion:. You can also use it to monitor only the reservoirs you are most interested in. Draining Hetch Hetchy without depriving Bay Area residents of This is a great and very thoughtfully designed web site! Its promising, but too early to let our guard down, said Joseph Sweiss, spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the citys water purveyor, in an email to The Chronicle. For detailed analysis of how San Franciscos water system will operate without Hetch Hetchy reservoir, see the Environmental Defense Funds studiesParadise RegainedandCherry Intertie Alternative. supplies water to the San Francisco Bay Area. The BAWSCA agencies are therefore key stakeholders in ensuring the system serves as a reliable source of high quality water. Before returning to the Bay Area, she held roles as transportation reporter and trending news reporter at the IndyStar in Indianapolis. Flood control agencies (not DWR) have the most say in regard to releases. So my question is, How do we know if we are saving the water for later release (late summer) or are we releasing it to the ocean? I live close to Eastman Lake. Different presidential administrations also have tried to address Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. 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. The proportion of blue to brown will show how full it is, while the red line shows the historical level that reservoir is typically at for this date of the water year. Yep. Great Job on this site! California drought: Charts show where reservoir levels stand after a dry January, Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area. 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. Turn right on to Hetch Hetchy Road - Evergreen Road and continue another 7.5 miles to the parking area for Hetchy Hetchy Reservoir next to the dam. globe.height = globe.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+40+"px"; Best of luck out there in California! Yes, and why is Twitchell Dam also not listed? Remaining Capacity text in the legend should be brown? //this function is called from the javascript from within the iframe after the contents of iframe are loaded (and after an additional 150ms delay) Id love to see how much water is being / has been released from these reservoirs. This is a very clear graph and I cannot imagine the hours you have put in while setting it up and doing the maintenance. Thats enough to supply the citys service area for perhaps seven years. Reservoir behind OShaughnessy Dam does not require filtration. The name Hetch Hetchy is derived from a Sierra Miwok ", The difference in soil type in the two watersheds was likely another factor. 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. Top ways to experience Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and nearby attractions Yosemite: Audio Driving Tour 1 Full-day Tours from $9.99 per group (up to 8) Private Yosemite Explorer Package | 3 Days of Adventure 3 Private and Luxury from $750.00 per adult (price varies by group size) Private Family Photo Day in Yosemite 78 Recommended Full-day Tours from Ive looked at reservoir sights for years. Absolutely zero reason to be releasing this much water from these reservoirs. Together, the BAWSCA agencies account for two-thirds of water consumption from the system and pay for two-thirds of its upkeep. The SFPUC has also raised concerns over the fishery benefits of the States Plan. I notice Briones Reservoir is not on the list. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. A small portion of the citys water comes from local reservoirs. and maybe another vertical axis to the right of that with reservoir capacity. Curt, Good point re the colder weather dropping more snow instead of rain at higher elevations this year. http://www.tuolumnerivermanagementplan.com. Only modest new supplies would be required in the driest years. The SFPUC hoards water in dry years when they dont need to, said Peter Drekmeier, policy director at the conservation group Tuolumne River Trust. The SFPUC has consistently stated that voluntary agreements are the best path forward for the Bay-Delta, as the voluntary agreement strikes the right balance between environmental stewardship and water reliability. And the current water storage amounts are well below the historical averages for this time of year. Folsom Lake is letting the water flow out. System for more than 60 percent of their drinking water. Lake Mendocino, which has a capacity of 122,400 acre feet, saw the biggest boost from 17% of storage capacity in December to 35% in January. Some want the city to leave more water in stream channels for threatened salmon while others continue a longshot bid to shut down Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite altogether and return the area to its natural state. Article X, Section 2 that requires diversions for all water Waterfalls gushed at Hetch Hetchy after an atmospheric river event in October 2021. This site is a great tool, especially as we try to climb out of these drought years. All of this work is nothing short of brilliant. Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, rose 2.9 feet and added 31,020 acre-feet of water. Im curious: Lk Almanor is the 8th largest reservoir in CA. Francisco Public Utilities Commissions 26 wholesale customers It has no natural inflow or out flow. The advocacy group Restore Hetch Hetchy took its case for . Ive added it to my bookmarks for quick reference. The judge also noted the provision of the state She is also an alumna of Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting Investigative Fellowship and The New York Times Student Journalism Institute. O'Shaughnessy Dam was built on the Tuolumne River in 1923 to create Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Wapama Falls (moderate) 5 mi (8 km) round-trip; 2 hours. We own and operate the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System which serves 2.7 million customers. Diamond Valley Lake is a man-made storage reservoir for storing imported water only. Trailhead address: Evergreen Road (Hetch Hetchy Road), Yosemite National Park, CA 95321. Folsom is like an overflow tank. California Reservoir Levels - Dashboard and visualization showing current water levels in California reservoirs . Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Current conditions of LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NGVD 1929 and RESERVOIR STORAGE are available. 501(c)3 organization, federal tax ID #942419885. and its snowmelt-fed water supply, water from Hetch Hetchy The trail takes you to the base of Wapama Falls, passing two smaller waterfalls (during spring) on the way. Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the system's water. 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. The Bay Area portion of the System includes water collection, treatment, and transmission facilities from the Alameda East Portal to the wholesale service area and terminal reservoirs in San Francisco. Each row represents one reservoir, with bars showing how much of the reservoir is filled (blue) and unfilled (brown). globe = document.getElementById('mekko'); According to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Hetch Several cities and water agencies that are now part of BAWSCA urged Congress to pass the Raker Act in 1913, the law that allowed federal lands in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, including Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, to be used to build the water system. According to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir can store as much as 117 billion gallons for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, which serves San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. Francisco Bay Area. However, I am interested in how much we are saving. Construction of the regional water system proceeded over the following 20 years, with water first delivered in 1934. 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. The gain came after weather gauges in the area recorded more than 5 inches from one storm. The remaining 15 percent of water comes from runoff in the Alameda and Peninsula watersheds. Thanks for providing it for public information. Thank you! Water data back to 1930 are available online. She was previously an engagement reporter. This other page: I love this this site too. 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. Water storage facilities include watersheds, dams, and reservoirs including: Calaveras, San Antonio, Crystal Springs, Pilarcitos, and San Andreas. Awesome work!! It was the only tool that I could find that would allow me to make a vertical marimekko graph. For each of the top 8 reservoirs the storage has increased by a total of 217 kaf, however). Weve been at zero now for several weeks, and we really want to see that turn around., Kellie Hwang and Yoohyun Jung are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com, Yoohyun.Jung@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang, @yoohyun_jung. Much of the recent inflow was to Hetch Hetchy, which can hold about 360,000 acre-feet of water and was 83% full at the start of the month. Hetch Hetchy has generated controversy since it was first Thanks. Im curious why the percentage of capacity has stayed almost flat for the past 6 weeks or so and below historical average. Heres where California reservoir levels stand after this weeks rains. As it is, at first glance, it looks like shasta is at the top because its 28000 instead of 4552. very nice product overall. Another not monitored by the State? It wont be full until Spring snowmelt. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from Yosemite to the San Francisco Bay Area. Thanks. rejected by an appellate court and the California Supreme Court Department of Water Resources is just another in a long line of completely mismanaged California entities. The OShaughnessy Dam, which was completed in 1938 and is 430-feet tall, impounds water in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for communities in the Bay Area. Thanks for the prompt reply! That puts it at 84 percent of where it would usually be usually at this time of year. They are releasing water into the canals. Call 209-372-0200 for the latest road and weather conditions, Hetch Hetchy Road Daily Hours: 8 am to 5 pm The main goal of this visualization is to provide a quick overview of the status of the main reservoirs in the state and how they compare to historical levels. UPDATE: Here's where California reservoir levels stand after this week's rains. Omar, Thanks! But Sites would be what's called an off-channel . It used to be full (and beyond). In 2021, the SFPUC and the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts launched a proactive pilot program with the U.S. 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. The water travels through a series of pipelines before it reaches the Bay Area and blends with five local reservoirs. Similar to the water supply issues discussed above, the amount of power replacement is small in a statewide context less than of 1% of the renewable power supply being developed this decade alone. the Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state. Quite an eye opener. Official websites use .gov The commission plans to decide Nov. 23 whether to formally ask customers to conserve water. Hours: Year-round, but only accessible by car when the Hetch Hetchy Road is open. While constructed and owned by San Francisco, the water system was in fact planned to benefit the greater San Francisco Bay Area population. At the moment, I am not interested in the debate. I see many of the local canals flowing with lots of water. I find myself coming back to this every few days to check on our water . This is also affected by most of these dams multi-purpose nature where they are near constantly releasing for power(like Shasta) or to make room for flood control capacity(like Folsom). 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. Sacramento CA 95833, Everything about California water that matters, Western States Water Agencies and Districts. He frequently writes about water, wildfire, climate and the American West. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite was 69 percent full on Tuesday, 150 percent of normal for this time of year. . How can I apply to SFPUC? The dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over . Prior to The Chronicle, she worked as a data journalist for Honolulu Civil Beat, a watchdog news organization covering the Hawaiian islands. The SFPUC gets the bulk of its water from a network of reservoirs in the central Sierra Nevada that have long altered flows of the Tuolumne River and its tributaries. Your tools are awesome just hurts when you receive bad data at times! Great URL. Ill pass it along to friends. John Muir and the 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. The Bay Area's main reservoir is up 21 feet. Related articles . Python is used to extract the data from this page hourly and wrangle the data in to a clean format. Love this. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Subscribe to receive email notifications of new content. word for a type of wild grass. 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. the map graph doesnt include berryessa. Visualization was done in javascript and specifically the D3.js visualization library. 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. Local reservoir inflows have negative daily flow rates set to zero. California reservoir levels: . resizeframe(); proposition that would have funded an $8 million study on how A truly excellent project. 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. Restoring Hetch Hetchy will require some changes in how San Francisco moves and stores water. LK ELEANOR NR HETCH HETCHY CA. That includes the Tuolumne River, which provides water via Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to Bay Area customers. do so. They also built a spillway that was too steep and did not install energy dissipators along the spillway. Charts from the California Department of Water Resources show conditions at key state reservoirs on Oct. 22 (left) and on Nov. 2 (right). Before joining the Chronicle, Alexander worked as a freelance writer and as a staff reporter for several media organizations, including The Fresno Bee and Bay Area News Group, writing about government, politics and the environment. I had a class in spillway design many years ago. 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). Kellie Hwang is the newsletter editor for The San Francisco Chronicle. diversion of water? Restore Hetch Hetchy claimed the phrase had I live in the central valley. Locked padlock Lock Within San Francisco, we manage water distribution in the City. The amount stored is increasing, just not by a lot.
