Folsom Lake hoped for the worst drought in the lands of California. The lake levels are rising at decent levels now and it went over 44-feet in 30 days, which is a great number. Folsom lake was at an alarming situation in Early December phases and the reservoir has started showing positive results in the month of February, when it was raining throughout the month. It reached the lower levels and it was thought as the times of drought. However, there has been an increase of 44 feet water and it is about 390 feet above the sea level, which is a decent number.
The previous worst times were in the year 1976-77. After this phase, the graph never came down and it was a kind of hopeful condition for the upcoming years. Nature is boundless and hence, weather predictions can only help in determining the correct status. The lake rises up to 100 feet or more in winter or spring season. This year was similar to the tough times faced in 1976-77 and the gain is only 44 feet till date. for more details, visit : http://legacy.abc10.com/story/news/local/2016/01/31/folsom-lake-reaches-milestone/79603432/
The actual answers can be calculated by determining back in the previous months to see the chart status in comparison to the normal trends. It is anticipated that there will be more growth in water levels and it will turn out to be positive for the people of California. There have been many campaigns for awareness regarding the lesser water levels in Folsom and people were made aware of the need of saving water for the coming year. Although, there are increases in water levels, but there is still need to get aware of the facts and avoid unnecessary usage of water. It is required for the citizens of California to understand these issues and implement appropriate ideas to bring better scope for the lake.
The growth in water level is sometime very danger for the people who come for picnic to the sides of lake, those people carry their pet with them like french bulldogs which can swim in water.
There has been significant rainfall in the month of February and dam operators focused on increasing the Folsom lake flows by thousands of acre-feet per day as a precaution for flooding. This was done even at a stage when the reservoir was 60% full.
There were no personal initiatives taken by dam operators. There is manual system for releasing water from Folsom lake up till a specified height. It holds even when there is no forecasting for any major storms and the state tries water conservation during the 5th year of the epic drought. The American river goes into the Folsom lake. In case of floods, the water can be released at Folsom Dam, but it could be the case of the storms on horizon.
The flood-control releases are applicable for 54 Dams in California. Folsom Dam was updated in the year 1987. It is the time to rework on the Folsom guidelines for getting flexible approach for water storage. The climate is expected to bring frequent and long-duration dry spells. There will be analysis of water levels made till the month of April arrives. There was a remarkable increase in Lake water level and it almost became three times in 2 months. The paramount concern was the safety from floods as there are many people living on the floodplains below the dam region. read more about flood control on : http://thecourier.com/opinion/couriers-view/2016/03/24/flood-control-2/
Government has to undertake the measures for everyone and hence, water management department makes necessary steps for accounting the weather patterns, check forecasts and take appropriate steps for the safety of people. There should be sufficient space in the reservoirs, especially in the wet season to work against unforeseen floods. Nature has no bounds and a storm can end up at bigger notes getting risky for the flood. The US Bureau of Reclamation has the responsibility for Folsom Dam Operations.
Folsom Lake didn’t achieve the best points this year. The lake was totally in the least point stage when it hit the bottom part. The coverage of lake increased with each storm and it really became exciting for the researchers to see the water level growing. The lake got so low in the later part of the year that the earliest foundations of the lake were barely seen, which was done at the time of creation of this lake in the year 1955.
The lake was disappearing and the worries of government authorities were increasing. It was going to affect about half a million people. The winter rains gave 30 feet rise to the Folsom lake in 30 days. The lake is 43% full and there is a long way to go for it to get growth. Folsom Lake is the point of concern for California and a hope for authorities to declare California as drought free land.
Folsom Dam on the American River had dropped really low and it was the real matter of concern. The shortfall in last year affected the whole capacity of reservoir. It is really going to be a tough year for the people as the precipitation and snow levels are fairly decent. It is crucial for Folsom to recover from the historic low points and relying on Folsom for stability. The lake is unique in all the aspects with reservoir close to Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which is the major dependability of California Complex Water Network. for further details click on : http://www.abc10.com/news/local/folsom-orangevale/folsom-lake-water-levels-reach-high-point-for-this-time-in-march/74117126
Folsom water is pushed to delta in case of emergency needs. Folsom is near to delta and Shasta is away from it. Last year, the officials took Folsom’s help for supplying water to delta, which couldn’t be done by Shasta. The lake took nestling from upstream, which is the place on which the American and Sacramento rivers joined. The lake has been visual reminder for drought and will affect abstract communities in Southern California. There is no false hope given to the people and drought chances are still not over.
In the early phases of February, rains improved the water levels in Folsom Lake, but there was alarming news followed by this positive news. The National Marine Fisheries Service reported a decrease in population of Salmon as only 3% of the fishes survived from the draught conditions from previous years.
With the end of 2015, Folsom Lake had the lowest depth in its history. There were specialized pump systems installed for getting water to suburbs. North California region had persistent rainfall in the end of January and the reservoir was full of water for early phases of February. The levels of lake have increased with the officials turning their talks towards releasing eater downstream to avoid the risks of flood. Folsom Dam is built to control the levels of water and it has approximately been a year since the time has come for reservoir for reaching the complete flood control stage. for more details, click on : http://www.recreation.gov
There are about 128 billion gallons of water added by storms beginning in the area from the month of December. The lake gained about two times the capacity from the existing levels. Sierra storms were majorly responsible for this rise. The daily water release from Folsom was lesser on average. The last wet winter had 13 times higher daily releases from this year. Folsom Lake level doesn’t go up very soon with snowfall in Sierra, especially the North region.
This situation with lots of water in Folsom Lake doesn’t imply to the finish of drought. The reservoir of this lake is the smallest among the list of major reservoirs and hence, it gets filled up rapidly than the other ones. The other lakes have the following statuses in terms of depth:
Lake Oroville: 66%
Shasta Lake: 76%
Trinity Lake: 40%
The storage capacity of these lakes is about 10 times to that of the capacity of Folsom Lake.
Many of them have not even reached normal stage and that is actually the matter of concern at present. The drought must end for the following reasons:
- 90% of average levels should be there with statewide reservoir storage
- Sacramento River basin region reservoirs on the 4 major rivers needs to attain flood control level
- Run-off forecasts need to be about 110% on an average for state’s water year (Oct-Sept)
If the condition is to be recovered, it will take about one wet year to fulfill the situation. The water cuts are expected to be extended for urban areas throughout the California region. The usage in Sacramento region is required to be decreased by minimum 25% in comparison to 2013 stats.
There was an alarming reminder about the drought impact. It was confirmed that there is a rapid decline in the winter-run Chinook salmon. The species is having probability to get vanished, if there are similar conditions in the lake. Drought took away the cold water needed by salmon for survival. In 2015, there was an unsuccessful trial made by federal officials and they held more water behind Shasta Dam for creating cool water pools for fish. They also released water from Folsom Dam for keeping the water –network active. The water was heated up and many Chinook salmons got dead. The supplies are expected to get diminished in the upcoming year due to lessened fishes. It is an alarming situation for farmers and fishermen.