Before you head out for the weekend …
Metropolitan’s Board letter posted re: Cal Water Fix options
At next Tuesday’s board meeting of the Metropolitan Water District, directors will be voting on participating in the Cal Water Fix project and will have two options:
Option 1 would express Metropolitan’s support of a staged construction approach and support of Metropolitan’s participation in a staged approach at up to 47.1% of the cost of the first stage if DWR decides to proceed in that manner. This is the staff’s recommendation.
Option 2 would authorize Metropolitan to finance its share of California WaterFix as a SWP contractor and to fully fund the unsubscribed share of the project up to 64.6% of total project costs.
Click here to read the board letter.
Latest update on Lake Oroville operations
So far, they haven’t had to use the spillway at Lake Oroville, and DWR is projecting possibly sometime next week. I’ll keep you posted if anything significant occurs. (And you can check the current level here.) Meanwhile, here is the latest update from the Department of Water Resources:
This is an update to DWR’s April 4 announcement: Current and forecasted storms in the Feather River basin this weekend may require using Lake Oroville’s flood control outlet spillway (also known as the main spillway) this weekend or next week.
After last year’s spillway incident, the Department created the 2017/18 Lake Oroville Winter Operations Plan to ensure public safety in the event of major storm events. This plan triggers more aggressive outflow from Hyatt Powerplant and potential use of the main spillway should the reservoir’s elevation reach 830 feet during the month of April. The current forecasts show the potential for inflows to raise the reservoir near the 830-foot trigger elevation by the middle of next week.
In anticipation of the incoming weather, DWR has increased outflows from the reservoir.
Because the forecasts are dynamic, they could change in magnitude and timing.
The following provides the most current approximate information:
- Lake Elevation: 792.55 feet
- Inflow: 12,700 cfs
- Spillway Outflows: 0
- Hyatt Powerplant Outflow: 13,000 cfs
- Feather River Flows: 13,750 cfs
DWR will provide daily updates around noon until after this storm system has passed.
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