Recent storms have significantly replenished California's water supply, prompting the release of millions of gallons of water from Shasta and Oroville reservoirs to create space for incoming precipitation and reduce flood risk. This follows an unusually dry January and comes as welcome relief after years of drought.
Millions of gallons of water pour through the outlet valves at Shasta Dam near Redding, Calif., on Tuesday Feb. 11, 2025. With another major storm forecast, federal dam operators created space in the reservoir, California’s largest, to reduce flood risk downstream, reducing Shasta Lake from 90% full on Feb. 1 to 84% full on Feb. 12.
“We’ve had two good years in a row prior to this, and we are heading into a third year,” said Jeff Mount, a professor emeritus at UC Davis and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center. “I can confidently say we are in really good shape. It’s unusual to get three wet years in a row.”
“There could be local impacts,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist with Golden Gate Weather Services in Half Moon Bay. “A slower morning commute, clogged gutters. It will be breezy. But no major flood risk. The models have backed off on this one.” The rain has been so plentiful that operators of the largest reservoirs have been increasing water releases in recent days to make space for the latest storm.
“It’s always troubling for people to see water let out,” Mount said. “But you have to keep some space to catch floods, and then hope the melting snow in the spring fills the reservoir back to the top.” It’s a delicate balancing act, experts say. If reservoirs fill to the top too quickly in big storms, large amounts of water are released down their spillways, causing flooding to homes and communities downstream. In extreme cases, water can overtop dams, causing a risk of failure.
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