Reservoir expected to spill over; increase in water described as ‘great news’ for the drought
The water level rose another 10% Wednesday at Lake Cachuma, which is expected to fill up and spill over sometime this weekend.
Lake Cachuma is expected to fill up and spill over sometime this weekend, helping Santa Barbara County’s fight against the drought.
On Wednesday, the lake continued to rise two days after the storm that doubled its capacity level. In approximately one day’s time, the reservoir’s capacity rose almost 10% in the aftermath of the storm.
On Saturday, Lake Cachuma’s capacity was at 35.9%. After the storm that stretched into Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the lake rose to 73% capacity, according to Eric Boldt, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Oxnard.
On Wednesday, Matt Young, the Santa Barbara County Water Agency manager, told the News-Press that Lake Cachuma was at 82.4%, “with a water elevation of 741.2 feet. It is expected to continue filling and reach its nominal full elevation of 750 feet early this weekend. Beyond that, flashboards installed on the gates add 3 feet of additional storage to 753 feet.”
This was confirmed by Mr. Boldt.
“It’s currently at 82.4% and is expected to reach 100% and spill over the spillway sometime this weekend,” Mr. Boldt said. “This is great news for the drought with improvement in the short term and very good for water supply for the city of Santa Barbara.”
The News-Press asked Mr. Boldt how rainfall averages compare to last year.
“We are well ahead of last year — for the water year starting Oct. 1, Santa Barbara is currently at 13.09 inches. Last year at this time we only had 8.83 inches.”
Noted Mr. Young, “The National Weather Service forecasts light-moderate rain this weekend (1 inch to 3 inch), and possibly more rain early next week. The federal Bureau of Reclamation and County Flood Control closely monitor the weather and model potential inflows to the reservoir. Inflows that would push the reservoir elevation above its capacity would be released downstream by USBR, in such a way to minimize downstream flood peaks.”
Lael Wageneck, the public information officer for Santa Barbara County Public Works Department, talked to the News-Press about the progress at Lake Cachuma.
“At the beginning of the day on Jan. 9, Cachuma Lake was at roughly 700 feet,” Mr. Wageneck said. “It is now at approximately 742 feet. So the elevation of the lake rose 42 feet in two days (on Wednesday).
“… Cachuma started Jan. 9 at 36.6% capacity, and as of 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday is at 83% capacity … With the lake’s filling rate, we anticipate it will reach 100% capacity this weekend,” Mr. Wageneck said.
The storm’s continuing impact was seen around Santa Barbara County. The rise in water at Lake Cachuma caused a vessel to sink, and News-Press photographer Kenneth Song took pictures of the efforts to recover the sunken watercraft.
The recent flooding and resulting damage led to the closure of Nojoqui Falls Park in Solvang. And elsewhere in the Danish-themed city, Alisal Road was under a hard closure due to flooding from recent rainstorms.
Down south, the Montecito Creek, which saw rising waters during the storm, was flowing steadily next to Olive Mill Road in Montecito.
On Wednesday, Rep. Salud Carbajal joined more than 30 California members of Congress, as well as U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, in a bipartisan letter to to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, to request expedited support, funding and other assistance to Caltrans in response to the storms that have severely damaged road and highway infrastructure across the state. The requested funding could be used for the repair or reconstruction of federal highways and roads on federal lands that have suffered serious damage because of natural disasters.
The National Weather Service said today’s forecast for Santa Barbara calls for a low of 51 and high of 66, with Friday mostly cloudy with a low of 50 and high of 64.
Friday also has a 10% chance of nighttime precipitation and 30% chance during the daytime.
The chance of rainfall on Friday is higher in other parts of the county: 20% during the night and 50% during the day in both Lompoc and Santa Maria. Santa Ynez has a 10% chance of rain during the night and 50% during the day.
On Saturday, there will be rain in Santa Barbara with a low of 48 and a high of 60 and 50% chance of nighttime participation and a 80% chance of rain during the day. The chance of rainfall is similar elsewhere in the county.
On Wednesday, State Route 154 remained closed between the roundabout with State Route 246 near Santa Ynez and State Route 192.
Jim Shivers, public information officer for Caltrans District 5, told the News-Press that there is no timetable for reopening.
“Our Caltrans maintenance team is responding to rockfall and debris on the roadway in multiple locations.,” Mr. Shivers said. “There are rockslides and mudslides in multiple locations within the entire segment of SR 154 (now closed) as well as slope failure in various locations which are in areas above the highway. There is also debris on the roadway.”
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
FYI
For the latest about storms, see readysbc.org.
More about the aftermath about this week’s storm will appear in Friday’s and Saturday’s editions of the News-Press.
