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<\/p>\nFRESNO, Calif. \u2013 With months still left of winter, California\u2019s major reservoirs are holding about 129 percent of historical water levels for this time of year.<\/p>\n
Officials with the state\u2019s Department of Water Resources say that\u2019s welcome news after years of drought, but it doesn\u2019t mean California\u2019s water challenges are completely over.<\/p>\n
Reservoir levels are measured against what\u2019s typical for a specific point in the calendar, not against their maximum capacity. Being \u201cabove average\u201d means the state has more water available than it usually does in early winter.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all thanks to a series of late December and early January storms.<\/p>\n
According to the DWR, the water levels at some of the major reservoirs in central California are all above average. That includes Pine Flat, Millerton, and San Luis reservoirs.<\/p>\n
So is being \u201cabove average\u201d good? The short answer: yes.<\/p>\n
Above average reservoir levels give water managers more flexibility as they head into warmer months and irrigation season, when demand rises and rain typically fades. It also reduces the immediate risk of shortages for farms, cities, and ecosystems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
California Department of Water Resources<\/p>\n
But water officials caution that California\u2019s climate is highly unpredictable, and one wet stretch doesn\u2019t guarantee long-term security.<\/p>\n
Even with strong reservoir numbers, California and much of the Western U.S. is still dealing with the effects of an extreme drought. Drought isn\u2019t defined by one single dry season, but rather a period of many years, according to experts.<\/p>\n
Much of the state\u2019s water supply comes from the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. It slowly melts in the springtime and refills these reservoirs.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s snowpack also brought mixed messages. Snow levels in the Southern Sierra Nevada are about 114 percent of average, which is a positive thing.<\/p>\n
However the Northern Sierra Nevada is only sitting at 68 percent of average. Where snow falls is just as important as the amount of snow that falls, state experts say.<\/p>\n
With drier weather forecasted in the state for the coming weeks, officials are expecting that snowpack levels will also take a hit.<\/p>\n
And with current reservoir levels appearing high, it could leave some to wonder why water is released this time of year.<\/p>\n
State water officials say reservoirs operate under flood control rules that are set by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.<\/p>\n
The rules require operators to leave space in the reservoirs to make room for water runoff from snowmelt and any future storms in the rainy season. Those releases typically happen between mid-September and May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. \u2013 With months still left of winter, California\u2019s major reservoirs are holding about 129 percent of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[7,24374,112,114,113,33897,64924,64925,64926,64927,124,64928],"class_list":["post-124510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-california","tag-department-of-water-resources","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-kvpr","tag-millerton","tag-pine-flat","tag-samantha-rangel","tag-san-luis","tag-sierra-nevada","tag-united-states-army-corps-of-engineers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}