FRIANT WATER UPDATE September 16, 2022 - Squarespace
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FRIANT WATER
UPDATE
September 16, 2022
NOTE: Five ALERT items, on page 4 and 5.
Data current as of September 13th, 2022, unless otherwise noted.
Meteorology, Climate, and Hydrology
Recent Precipitation Events
• Over the past week, the Central and Southern Sierra, parts of the San Joaquin Valley, and all of Southern
California saw between a trace and up to 1.5 inches of precipitation from the remnants of Hurricane Kay. Parts of
the mountain and desert areas east of San Diego saw between 2-5 inches of precipitation. The northeastern
portion of Northern California also saw trace amounts of precipitation
Water Year 2022 Precipitation (Oct 2021 – Sep 2022)
• Sacramento Valley: 78% of normal for this week (Link: HERE) (78% last week)
• San Joaquin Valley: 63% of normal for this week (Link: HERE) (62% last week)
• Tulare Lake Region: 60% of normal for this week (Link: HERE) (59% last week)
WY2022 Snow Accumulation
DWR automated snow sensors for snow water content indicate that there is no measurable remaining snowpack (Link:
HERE).
Looking forward:
• Over the weekend, temperatures are expected to be around 10 degrees below normal throughout most of
Northern California and 5 to 10 degrees below normal in Southern California. At the beginning of next week,
temperatures are expected to be 5 to 10 degrees below normal throughout the State, before warming to near
normal temperatures towards the end of the week. Over the next week, the northern two-thirds of the State is
expected to receive between a trace and up to 0.5 inches of precipitation. Some of the higher Sierra peaks may
receive their first snowfall of the season.
• The National Weather Service’s October outlook shows a 33-40% chance of above normal temperatures in
Northern California and a 40-50% chance of above normal temperatures elsewhere in the State. It also shows a
33-40% chance of below normal precipitation in an area encompassing the northern section of the Central Valley
to the southern section of Northern California and as west as the Bay Area and a 40-50% chance of below normal
precipitation in parts of California surrounding Lake Tahoe. There are equal chances of below normal, normal, and
above normal precipitation elsewhere in the State (Link: HERE).
• DWR released the May 1st water supply forecast for Water Year 2022 on May 9th. The forecast identifies a
Sacramento Valley Index of 4.5 (a year type of “Critical”) at the 50% exceedance level and a San Joaquin Valley
Index of 1.5 (a year type of “Critical”) at the 75% exceedance level. (Link: HERE). These are the final and “official”
forecasts for the 2022 water year.• The June 7th update to the Bulletin 120 unimpaired inflow forecast for Shasta indicated minor changes to the
water year unimpaired flow of 2.96 MAF at the 50% exceedance level and 2.915 MAF at the 90% exceedance
level (Link: HERE). The May 1st forecast ensured that this year will be a Shasta Critical year.
Other resources:
• Authoritative California climate and meteorology blog by Weather West (Link: HERE).
• Interactive, real-time meteorology updates from Ventusky (Link: HERE).
• Weather updates from the National Weather Service Sacramento office (Link: HERE).
• DWR has created the “California Water Watch” website that provides a snapshot of California Hydroclimate and
Water Supply Conditions (Link: HERE).
North of Delta Operations
• Keswick Reservoir releases decreased to 4,100 cfs on September 12th due to reduced demands along the
Sacramento River.
• Folsom Reservoir releases (below Nimbus) decreased to 2,500 cfs on September 10th.
• Oroville Reservoir releases (below Thermalito) decreased to 2,750 cfs on September 14th.
• North of Delta Reservoir Summary (TAF):
Reservoir Capacity 15 year Avg WY 2021 WY 2022 % of Avg Weekly Change
Trinity 2,448 1,321 792 578 44 -16
CVP Shasta 4,552 2,357 1,153 1,550 66 -16
Folsom 977 462 234 397 86 -23
SWP Oroville 3,538 1,625 791 1,270 73 -22
• North of Delta Reservoir Release Summary (cfs):
Reservoir Dam WY 2021 WY 2022 15 YR Median Weekly Change
Trinity Lewiston 464 952 478 10
CVP Sacramento Keswick 6,818 4,106 7,541 -172
American Nimbus 579 2,507 1,792 -700
SWP Feather Oroville 1,250 3,000 3,500 0
• Reclamation’s daily CVP water supply report is available on the Reclamation website (Link: HERE).
• Reclamation updated the 2022 CVP North of Delta allocations on April 1st (Link: HERE). Allocations are:
o 75% for Sacramento River Settlement Contractors and CVP Refuge supplies
o 0% for Agricultural Service Contractors
o Public Health and Safety amounts consistent with CVP M&I Water Shortage Policy for Sacramento and
American River M&I Contractors
• The CVP, state agencies, and the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors have agreed on an approach to
address CVP operations for the mid-April through November period. The operation creates a target of an average
release of 4,500 cfs from Keswick and a Wilkins Slough target of 3,000 cfs. This operation seeks to preserve as
much cold water pool in Shasta as late in the season as possible. This operation will severely limit the available
supply to Sacramento River Settlement Contractors this summer to levels well below 75% of their contracts.
• Reclamation submitted the final Sacramento River Temperature Management Plan on May 2nd which was
approved with conditions by the State Water Board on May 6th. Temperature targets have largely been met
2|Pagethroughout the 2022 season. Reclamation recently made the last possible change to the Shasta temperature
control device.
• Releases to the Trinity River from Lewiston remain elevated at 950 cfs to provide fishery flushing flows to the
Klamath River.
Looking forward:
• Keswick releases are expected to be adjusted throughout the month to maintain compliance with the 2022
operations plan, meet fishery concerns (redd dewatering), and meet Sacramento River demands. The monthly
average release target for September in the 2022 operations plan is 4,000 cfs.
• Folsom releases are expected to remain at 2,500 cfs for the near future but may be reduced as downstream
demands continue to fall off.
• Oroville releases are expected to remain at 2,750 cfs for the near future but may be further reduced as
downstream demands continue to fall off.
Delta/South of Delta Operations
Flow values in this section are rounded to the nearest 100 cfs.
• Controlling Factor(s) in the Delta: Delta Outflow (per DWR Delta Ops report)
o As of July 1st, the D-1641 E/I ratio export cap is 65%, and the ratio is currently at 32% (14-day average).
o As of August 1st, required Delta outflow under D-1641 is 3,000 cfs.
o As of September 1st, required flow on the Sacramento River at Rio Vista is 3,000 cfs. Flow is currently
about 3,900 cfs (7-day average).
o The DWR Delta Ops Report indicates that the Delta is currently in a “Balanced” condition.
• Daily Delta outflow index is about 4,400 cfs (7-day average).
• Delta inflow is about 9,400 cfs. Inflow is 8,600 cfs on the Sacramento River at Freeport, and 400 cfs on the San
Joaquin River at Vernalis.
• Jones Pumping Plant was increased to a three-unit operation of approximately 2,700 cfs on September 12th. There
is no flow through the DMC-CA intertie. Reclamation is currently expecting to hold a three-unit operation for the
near future.
• Banks Pumping Plant pumping is approximately 800 cfs. There is no pumping for Cross Valley Canal Contractors.
• CVP San Luis Storage Summary: Storage increased slightly as South of Delta demands continue to reduce.
Capacity 15 year Avg WY 2021 WY 2022 % of Avg Weekly Change
Federal San Luis 966 267 22 197 74 6
• SWP San Luis storage decreased by 20 TAF to 344 TAF.
• The Delta Cross Channel gates are open. (Link: HERE).
• The barrier on West False River in the Delta (installed by DWR and Reclamation in June of 2021 to help maintain
water quality conditions) will remain in place through water year 2022.
• Reclamation’s South-of-Delta daily operations report is available (Link: HERE).
• On March 18th, DWR announced that it is reducing the State Water Project (SWP) allocation for 2022 to 5%, due
to the exceptionally dry hydrologic conditions seen since the beginning of 2022 (Link: HERE).
• Reclamation updated the 2022 CVP South of Delta allocations on April 1st (Link: HERE). Allocations are:
o 75% for San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors and CVP Refuge supplies
o 0% for Agricultural Service Contractors
o Public Health and Safety amounts consistent with CVP M&I Water Shortage Policy for all M&I Contractors
located South of Delta and serviced from the Delta
• Goodwin releases (on the Stanislaus River below New Melones) decreased to 200 cfs on September 12th.
3|PageLooking forward:
• The SWRCB provided a curtailment update for September 13th indicating that there are no changes to
curtailments. The following rights are currently curtailed (Link: HERE):
o Post-1914 appropriative water rights in the Putah Creek subwatershed outside of the Legal Delta with a
priority date of 1924 or later
o Post-1914 appropriative water rights in the Sacramento River watershed outside of the Legal Delta with a
priority date of 1950 or later
o Post-1914 appropriative water rights, pre-1914 appropriative water right claims, and riparian water right
claims in the Chowchilla River subwatershed
o All post-1914 appropriative water rights and pre-1914 appropriative water right claims in the San Joaquin
River watershed outside of the Legal Delta
o Post-1914 appropriative water rights in the Legal Delta with a priority date of 1950 or later
• The SWRCB provided a website where water right holders can look up their curtailment status (Link: HERE).
• On June 3rd the SWRCB sent out a notice to water right holders whose rights include Permit Term 91 to alert them
that Term 91 curtailments are now in effect (Link: HERE).
NASA Airborne Snow Observatory
• Funding and agreements are in place for all 2022 flights.
Friant Division Operations
• ALERT: The Friant Division WY2022/23 supply is currently as follows:
Class 1 Allocation Class 2 Allocation Rescheduled Unreleased
Restoration Flows
(Net Schedulable)
30% (240 TAF) 0% 37 TAF 96,022 AF*
Includes 24,603 AF for URF exchanges, some of which will be returned in subsequent years.
• On September 13th, there were 0 cfs diversions to the Madera Canal 971 cfs to the Friant-Kern Canal (FKC) and 23
cfs passing Gravelly Ford.
• Millerton Lake daily operations report (Link: HERE), CDEC information (Link: HERE), and a Water Year
accumulation plot (Link: HERE) are available.
• ALERT: Storage in Millerton was 278,645 AF on September 13th. Storage increased by about 16,700 AF compared
to last week.
Recent/Forecast Precipitation
• Total measured precipitation for the 7 days ending September 7th in the San Joaquin 5-station area was 0.2
inches. Seasonal total through September 7th is 24.9 inches, which is 62% of average compared to 62% last week.
• GFS Long-Range charts show an early fall storm moving through the Central Valley and SJR watershed Sept.
19/20. The storm system appears to include thunderstorm activity rather than wide-spread precipitation, so
runoff to upper SJR reservoirs is unpredictable, but welcome.
4|PageLooking forward:
• ALERT: Reclamation conducted its monthly Forecast of Millerton Operations meeting on September 9th and,
notwithstanding relatively high Millerton storage levels through February with lower quartile precipitation
projections, there is still no change regarding a potential increase in the Friant Division water supply allocation.
• ALERT: Friant Kern Canal will be going out of service in the middle and lower portions of the canal starting in mid-
November for construction on the Middle Reach Capacity Correction project. It is scheduled to remain out of
service until February 1st, 2023.
San Joaquin River Settlement Implementation
Restoration Flow Releases
• On May 13th, Reclamation notified the Restoration Administrator of the final allocation update for the Restoration
Program for WY 2022/23. The current allocation remains 232,470 AF, as measured at Gravelly Ford.
• Restoration Flows are currently scheduled to be released again starting October 1st with increased flows at
Gravelly Ford. It is expected to take about at least a month for Restoration Flows to re-wet Reaches 2 and 4,
which have been dry since mid-July, and reconnect at the Merced River confluence.
Recapture/Recirculation
• Mendota Pool: It is not expected that there will be any further recapture at Mendota Pool, except for possible
brief periods at the beginning and end of Restoration Flow releases in October or February.
• ALERT: FWA was informed by Reclamation that the petition for the Temporary Transfer was resubmitted on
September 2nd, with the expectation of being able to recapture Restoration Flows at Patterson and Banta-Carbona
Irrigation Districts (PID and BCID) after they resume in October. Assuming a relatively rapid approval of the
temporary transfer permit by SWRCB, recapture could begin by around mid-November. Because Restoration
Flows available for recapture at PID and BCID will likely exceed their permitted diversion capacity in December
through February, the amount of potential recapture will be dependent on the available conveyance capacity in
the districts’ systems and the amount of available capacity in the DMC to convey water to O’Neill Forebay.
Maximum potential recapture is likely in the range of 15-20 TAF.
• Distribution of Recaptured Water: Given the 30% Class 1 allocation for WY 2022, any water recaptured will be
distributed to Class 1 contractors.
River Settlement, Restoration Biological Monitoring
• U.S Fish & Wildlife Service is in the second week of redd and carcass surveys. No redds or carcasses have been
detected.
• Two acoustically tagged fish were detected this week, four acoustic tags were detected last week.
• Reclamation is planning to start Rotary Screw Trap installation and monitoring in November.
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