Restore Hetch Hetchys subsequent appeal to the ruling was The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. Water data back to 1930 are available online. In whats known as the Bay-Delta Plan, state water regulators are amid a years-long effort to negotiate a policy for how much water should be kept in rivers that flow to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to meet the needs of both people and wildlife. Together, the BAWSCA agencies account for two-thirds of water consumption from the system and pay for two-thirds of its upkeep. Isabella is filling quite slowly in order to test out the new $500 million spillway. The citys water system also includes a water bank at Don Pedro Reservoir along the Tuolumne River, which was full as of Feb. 1. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park is seen in 2022. A wet December produced ample snowfall, which is still sitting at high elevations. Upcountry and the Bay Area. 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. Important Legacy real-time page. Copyright 2023Water Education Foundation. Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System The Hetch Hetchy watershed, an area located in Yosemite National Park, is the major source of water for all of San Francisco's water needs. 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. Jeff, the average changes daily as well. 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 city wastes water, so it was a moot issue. Its fluctuating between ~107% and ~20% from one hour to the next (reading 107.6 atm). and maybe another vertical axis to the right of that with reservoir capacity. I will take a look and see if there are other important reservoirs missing and may add them in the future. mobilewarn(); 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. Francisco Public Utilities Commissions 26 wholesale customers It looks like the red and blue lines are backwards on Folsom. According to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Hetch Echoing the sentiments of famed naturalist John Muir, members say the glacially-carved Hetch Hetchy Valley that the reservoir sits in is comparable in grandeur to Yosemite Valley and should not be flooded. 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. Thank you for a beautiful job. It does not meet the California definition of renewable energy. They have restoredMono Lake,improved stream flows on the North Coast and in theCentral Valleyand diminished the threat to native fish in the Bay Delta. Exclusive: Stunning photos show Yosemite National Park under 15 feet of Warriors treating Andrew Wiggins with understandable patience, but his California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could Map shows which parts of California exceeded entire years worth of rain, Map shows stunning improvement in California drought, Last chance to see: Bay Bridge lights turn off on Sunday. The Bay Area's main reservoir is up 21 feet. 7 days 30 days California reservoir levels: . The information on Isabella has been fluctuating drastically (by a factor of 10!) Twenty of San 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 The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate change, has become a sticking point in a longstanding environmental battle over how much water the city should be taking from rivers. Compared to the historical snowpack for this time of year, the May 2021 survey shows that we are only 2 to 5 percent of normal. https://engaging-data.com/ca-reservoir-level/ Here's what that means. Official websites use .gov their water supply would cost hundreds of millions of dollars at . But they'll cost you, Fight at high school basketball game in S.F. Arg. 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. Ive added it to my bookmarks for quick reference. Current as of October 03, 2022 | Updated by . finding an alternative water and power source (Hetchy Hetchy also Quite an eye opener. 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. YTD values are from January 1 . Folsom is like an overflow tank. Hetch-Hetchy predicted to fill by end of the snowmelt period 2020-2021 Winter season continues to be dry 2019-2020 was dry, although key differences Feb. 2020 was unusually warm, which impacted snowfall levels and water demands; Feb 2021 was cooler, and hence snowfall level higher and water use lower Could you also do the same for the Colorado River reservoirs to see how they are fairing? The amount stored is increasing, just not by a lot. Meanwhile, the group Restore Hetch Hetchy is urging the SFPUC to abandon Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Data have been checked by the reporting agency. The captured water is piped 150 miles to the Bay Area. Shasta is very large and could hold about 3.5 cubic kilometers of water at full (but not flood) capacity. The current power produced by the SFPUC system, although not carbon-based, is not green since it requires the continued destruction of significant habitat. One gauge in the area has measured 6.12 inches since Oct. 1, which is 899% of normal. Delivery rates are 7-day average values. Especially for small ones it is hard to identify them and click on them. Lots of possibilities, just curious. My guess would be that the recent systems have been cold and so they are predominantly dropping snow on the watershed. Find out more about the system at http://www.sfwater.org, BAWSCA Board Policy Committee Meeting, April 12, 2023 1:30pm. Los Angeles,Orange CountyandSan Josehave developed ambitious water recycling programs and have vastly improved local groundwater management. Located in the northwest portion of Yosemite National Park, Hetch Great URL. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the This chart only shows reservoirs filled via natural flow/rainfall. I have wanted to do exactly this plot for years. Locked padlock Hetch Hetchy is only one of nine reservoirs in the San Francisco Public Utility Commissions water system. I noticed that Folsom does not change whereas every reservoir changes on an hourly update. "It was a very healthy shot in the arm. 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. Im curious why the percentage of capacity has stayed almost flat for the past 6 weeks or so and below historical average. DWR is one of many local, State and Federal entities that dictate water releases. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander. They also built a spillway that was too steep and did not install energy dissipators along the spillway. 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. Hi Keith, you could de-select the large reservoirs from the menu at the top right. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park can store up to 117 billion gallons of drinking water that is used for the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System that provides water for 2.6 . You can also use it to monitor only the reservoirs you are most interested in. Our flagship blog features analysis of news from our staff and announcements of upcoming events. Within San Francisco, we manage water distribution in the City. Id love to see how much water is being / has been released from these reservoirs. For the first week of February, there was a slight increase for most reservoirs from January amounts. Love easy to read and understand information. You can email her at agraff@sfgate.com. it will be cool if there is a way to track the change since Dec or some such date. I was thinking that it would be interesting to compare inflows and outflows. As the system aged, especially in an era of heightened safety awareness following the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989 and drought in the 1990s, it became evident that the system required a complete overhaul. 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. a minimum, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities For perspective, water demand across the SFPUC's service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. I dont know if weve seen anything like this in October before.". How can I match up other monitoring locations similar to the ones on this Interactive Dashboard? The snowpack there, which will eventually melt and flow into reservoirs, is already bigger than the average peak snowpack, which typically comes around April 1. With modest additional investments San Francisco will be able to maintain an uninterrupted supply of high quality Tuolumne River water. Located within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, the reservoir saw a sizable 21.31-foot bump in its water level and gained 36,300 acre-feet, according to Tuesday data from the U.S. Geological Survey. reserved. Its just small enough that the name doesnt appear as the bar is too thin. Check out my **new combined California reservoir and snowpack visualizer** to compare to historical values, as well asthe California precipitation tracker and California snowpack visualizer. I am new to the state. Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. Monitoring location 11277500 is associated with a LAKE, RESERVOIR, IMPOUNDMENT in TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. This is a marimekko (or mekko) graph which may take some time to understand if you arent used to seeing them. At the beginning of this water year, which started on October 1, 2022, the state's largest water reservoir, Lake Shasta, was a third full, at 33 percent. The SFPUC has voiced concerns with the Plan, as it would dramatically reduce the agencys water supply, leaving it subject to significant rationing in droughts and more extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change. This November, a group of environmental advocates will put forth a ballot measure that would require the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop a plan to drain Hetch Hetchy. supplies water to the San Francisco Bay Area. "This was rare for October. Kudos to the designers. The soaking was welcome in a drought-plagued state with a diminishing water supply. The snowpack acts as a natural reservoir and slowly releases water.. hetch hetchy reservoir level percentage Rivers and Streams Streams draining into the Peninsula Watershed within the project area are relatively small, steep, and in a 2021-11-17. . Nice! An official website of the United States government. Reservoir behind OShaughnessy Dam does not require filtration. Sacramento CA 95833, Everything about California water that matters, Western States Water Agencies and Districts. If you click on the list button in the top right of the dashboard, it will show a list of the reservoirs (in order of size from largest to smallest) and you can check which ones you would like to display. San Francisco will be in great shape going into 2023, said Spreck Rosekrans, executive director of Restore Hetch Hetchy Its unfortunate that too little is being done with these flows to recharge groundwater basins to help cities and farms and even restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley., Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. A dry January with little rainfall across much of Northern California actually didnt hurt the states water storage levels, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources. HETCH HETCHY RES A HETCH HETCHY CA. The average for this time of year is approximately 4,659.57ft, plus or minus 39ft. San Franciscos water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. 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. How can I apply to SFPUC? This dashboard is great! I know this might be difficult to display but Im very curious on the actual amounts of water consumed on a monthly basis and if this is somehow processed in a certain between what is agricultural and what is non-commercial etc? Rizzardo said there was a decent amount of flow into the reservoirs into January, even though weather-wise it was bone dry, a result of lower elevation snow at 4,000 to 6,000 feet making its way into the reservoirs. But tearing down O'Shaughnessy Dam in order to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley would be a disaster. It updates hourly using data from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) website, giving an up-to-date picture of California reservoir levels. Department of Water Resources is just another in a long line of completely mismanaged California entities. Thank you so much for the hard work! 2013, photo, the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is hazy with smoke . Its supposed to be brown. since it required flooding a And the current water storage amounts are well below the historical averages for this time of year. Im curious: Lk Almanor is the 8th largest reservoir in CA. Lake ShastaLevel before the storm on Oct. 22: 882.57 feetLevel after the storm on Nov. 1: 885.47 feetTotal rise: 2.9 feet, Storage before the storm: 970,859 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 1,001,879 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 31,020 acre-feet, Lake OrovilleLevel before the storm: 630.80 feetLevel after the storm: 661.20 feetTotal rise: 30.4 feet, Storage before the storm: 799,638 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 982,263 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 182,625 acre-feet, Hetch HetchyLevel before the storm: 3,729.68 feetLevel after the storm: 3,750.99 feetTotal rise: 21.31 feet, Storage before the storm: 221,500 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 257,800 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 36,300 acre-feet, Trinity LakeLevel before the storm: 2,209.55 feetLevel after the storm: 2,213.22 feetTotal rise: 3.67 feet, Storage before the storm: 648,675 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 672,930 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 24,255 acre-feet, Folsom LakeLevel before the storm: 370.28 feetLevel after the storm: 390.33 feetTotal rise: 20.05 feet, Storage before the storm: 214,225 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 318,577 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 104,352 acre-feet, New Melones LakeLevel before the storm: 916.28 feetLevel after the storm: 917.09 feetTotal rise: 0.81 feet, Storage before the storm: 822,619 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 827,786 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 5,167 acre-feet, Don PedroLevel before the storm: 723.96 feetLevel after the storm: 727.41 feetTotal rise: 3.45 feet, Storage before the storm: 970,226 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 995,836 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 25,610 acre-feet, McClureLevel before the storm: 663.70 feetLevel after the storm: 672.27 feetTotal rise: 8.4 feet, Storage before the storm: 180,900 acre-feetStorage after the storm: 198,467 acre-feetTotal storage increase: 17,210 acre-feet. I love this this site too. The reservoir was at 75 percent capacity as of May 5, totaling 269,963 acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is nearly 326,000 gallons). I appreciate the information you are providing. Curious why Shasta lake seems to be making big gains in water coming in and Trinity not so much? It wont be full until Spring snowmelt. mandate within An official website of the United States government. For detailed analysis of how San Franciscos water system will operate without Hetch Hetchy reservoir, see the Environmental Defense Funds studiesParadise RegainedandCherry Intertie Alternative. City officials have touted their efforts to help salmon, for example by timing water releases to assist with migration and restoring breeding grounds. reservoir violates the California Constitution specifically the Since June 2011, the Water Enterprise has operated the Citys Emergency Firefighting Water System (EFWS, formerly known as the Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS)), an independent, high-pressure water supply system for fire suppression. Kellie has held many leadership roles for the Asian American Journalists Association, including most recently a board member for the San Francisco chapter. For perspective, water demand across the SFPUCs service area of 2.7 million people was about 205,000 acre-feet last fiscal year. document.getElementById('globes').contentWindow.location.reload(); A question: the Historical Avg*, is it the value of year-today or natural year? Maybe bad data. I realize there we dont want to reservoirs overflowing, but why are we still below historical average? United States. Article X, Section 2 that requires diversions for all water Great graphs and very useful. Water data back to 1956 are available online. In addition, San Francisco receives approximately one-tenth of its power from hydroelectricity generated by the gravity-driven flow from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. ", The difference in soil type in the two watersheds was likely another factor. the Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state. These graphs will always read low because they represent the percentage of the seasonal average at some point before the end of the season. Its not possible to see or really interact with the tiniest slivers. Trinity Lake, with a capacity of 2,447,650 acre-feet, had the smallest increase, from 29% in December to 30% in January. Congressman Tom McClintock has re-introduced theYosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act, a bill that would allow non-motorized Sign up to receive blog posts and other news by email. So on Jan 10 were at 82% of the average for Jan 10. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com, Yoohyun.Jung@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang, @yoohyun_jung. These sources are diverse in both the origin of the supply snowmelt, rainfall and recharge of groundwater and their location within our system. Climbers Timmy O'Neill (left) and Lucho Rivera atop a wall overlooking Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Why isnt Lake Sonoma included? generates electricity for the city). A separate vote would have been function resizeframe(){ Assistant General Manager for Water Steven Ritchie credits the way the system is managed along with lower. Hetch Hetchy has generated controversy since it was first Kurtis Alexander is an enterprise reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, with a focus on natural resources and the environment. globe.height = globe.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+40+"px"; Lock 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. 2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205 provides water to 2.7 million residents and businesses in the San Current conditions of LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NAVD 1988, LAKE OR RESERVOIR WATER SURFACE ELEVATION ABOVE NGVD 1929, and RESERVOIR STORAGE are available. With how we can now basically pinpoint future precipitation amounts at least a month in advance, no reason to not let these reservoirs fill up past historic averages for this date. A 1 week change would be interesting to show on each. As of Feb. 1, the systems total water storage was just over 1.3 million acre-feet, or about 92% of capacity. California drought: Charts show where reservoir levels stand after a dry January, Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area. This site is a great tool, especially as we try to climb out of these drought years. Thats a great suggestion and one that would be particularly helpful! Prior to The Chronicle, she worked as a data journalist for Honolulu Civil Beat, a watchdog news organization covering the Hawaiian islands. O'Shaughnessy Dam is a 430-foot (131 m) high concrete arch-gravity dam in Tuolumne County, California, United States.It impounds the Tuolumne River, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir at the lower end of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, about 160 miles (260 km) east of San Francisco. Hours: Year-round, but only accessible by car when the Hetch Hetchy Road is open. I believe the spillway was designed by the State. Trailhead coordinates: 37.946905, -119.787376 (37 56 48.85N 119 47 14.55W) 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. San Francisco and the thousands of suburban . sends student to hospital, Heres how much rain and snow is on the way this weekend, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). John Muir and the Great stuff. diversion of water? Restore Hetch Hetchy claimed the phrase had . "Soils that have become hydrophobic due to wildfire can also contribute to increased runoff because the water is less able to penetrate the burned soil," the department said. All of this work is nothing short of brilliant. This is wonderful information. Add a button to convert the row heights to log scale. 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. lawsuit, saying Restore Hetch Hetchys arguments were preempted At the height of the recent drought, they still had at least four years in storage. And for the years they were hoarding water, the salmon-based ecosystem suffered.. Lake Almanor isnt controlled by DWR for flood/supply. That puts it at 84 percent of where it would usually be usually at this time of year. All Rights Reserved. How do I pay my bill? Restore Hetch Hetchy supports a power replacement plan that is truly renewable, and will not increase emissions of any pollutants or carbon that causes global warming. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite was 69 percent full on Tuesday, 150 percent of normal for this time of year. Have you looked into that side of the water management equation? }, 150); The BAWSCA agencies are therefore key stakeholders in ensuring the system serves as a reliable source of high quality water. Thats a very poor design. The source water from SFPUC is typically from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the systems water. These sources include surface water stored in reservoirs located in the Sierra Nevada, Alameda County and San Mateo County, and groundwater supplies stored in a deep aquifer located in San Francisco and San Mateo counties. How Fast Are California Reservoirs Filling Up? You can sort the mekko graph by size largest at the top to smallest at the bottom or by reservoir location, from north to south. Thats enough to supply the citys service area for perhaps seven years. Restore Hetch Hetchy intends to undo this Great American mistake, and return the valley to Yosemite National Park and all people. James Q. Martin / Restore Hetch Hetchy Show More Show Less 4 of 7 located in a national park and it passed the Raker Act in 1913 to The Bay Area transmission system also includes Irvington Tunnel 1 and Tunnel 2, the Bay Tunnel, and the Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel. 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. While constructed and owned by San Francisco, the water system was in fact planned to benefit the greater San Francisco Bay Area population. Also, do they provide inflows and outflows for locations? The Mokolumne River, which originates in the high Sierra, provides more than 90 percent of the East Bay's water and the Owens Valley in the eastern Sierra serves as a key source of water for Los Angeles. Restoring Hetch Hetchy will require some changes in how San Francisco moves and stores water. May 24, 2022 - BAWSCA Statement About the Adoption of a Systemwide Water Use Reduction of 11%. setTimeout(function (){ https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11275500/#parameterCode=00054&period=P7D. According to the SFPUC, the upper reaches of the Tuolumne River have received about 36 inches of rain since the start of the water year in October, almost as much as what the area averages in a year. Lock It could be the 180% of historical average of snowpack, which will be melting in a couple months. The Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which supplies water for San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area, was at 77% of its 360,000-acre-feet storage capacity in January compared to 73% in December, and on Feb. 7, it was up to 82%. In 2016, a Tuolumne County Superior Court judge dismissed the the Bay Area. Thanks. If you are on a computer, you can hover your cursor over a reservoir and the dashboard at the top will provide information about that individual reservoir. Data and Tools A dry January with little rainfall across much of Northern California actually didnt hurt the states water storage levels, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources. For the higher elevations, more of their water comes directly from snowmelt. So its volume is counted as Orville inflow. Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, rose 2.9 feet and added 31,020 acre-feet of water.