Storms May Be 'Too Much Of A Good Thing' In California

As California water managers reckon with drought, they have another, somewhat counterintuitive, worry this year: flooding.

Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist, explained why storms in California might not be as welcome as one might think.

“There’s some concern that the storms might be too much of a good thing. At the top end, the series of storms could double the current snowpack in the Sierra, and fill Shasta Reservoir... These would be milestones almost too difficult to exaggerate in a state where every drop of water counts. The downside, of course, is the storms will create a risk of significant flooding,” he wrote in Slate.

In March, federal water managers warned that flooding and storms could make for an “interesting” runoff season in northern California, KCRA reported. Ron Milligan, operations manager for the Bureau of Reclamation's Central Valley Project, weighed in.

"This is an area where we tend to want to be very cautious with people's lives and livelihoods," he said. "How we manage through this will be kind of interesting.”

The bureau manages reservoirs including Folsom Lake and Lake Shasta. Both are at high levels following recent storms. They may fill to capacity for the first time in four years.

“Shasta is the state's largest and most important water reserve, and if it were to fill, it would be for the first time in four years. As California is entering a fifth year of the drought, such a replenishment would be a [major milestone],” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“Operators have already let Shasta and Folsom eat into some of the buffer space normally reserved for flood control. More runoff is locked up in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is at about 92 percent of normal,” KCRA reported.

Rain has forced evacuations of some California communities this month. “Some residents in a hillside community in Moraga were forced to evacuate after heavy rains led to a landslide,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

To read more about handling issues caused by rainfall, visit Water Online’s Stormwater Management Solutions Center.