New Year brings new hope to the CVP

Written by: Todd Plain

Clockwise: Shasta, Keswick, Nimbus, Folsom dams releasing high flows January 2017SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The start of January 2017 brought hope for many people looking to make changes in how they conduct their daily lives. The New Year has also ushered in changes in how the Bureau of Reclamation conducts its Central Valley Project reservoir operations. Several CVP reservoirs increased releases to manage inflows not seen in California’s Central Valley for more than 10 years.

On the northern end of the CVP, releases had more than doubled this month from Shasta Dam into Keswick Reservoir—from 14,000 cubic feet per second to 36,000 cfs, to maintain space for storm runoff.

On the CVP’s eastern end, Folsom Dam and Nimbus Dam releases had climbed from 3,500 cfs to 60,000 cfs in one week.

It’s still very early and no one can predict how this water year will end up. But one thing for certain is that 2017 is starting to change California’s outlook on its multiyear drought.

For CVP reservoir information, see https://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/vungvari/wtr_rpt.pdf

Published on January 19, 2017