Water Down the Drain
Total delta outflow (water lost to the ocean) was 468,296 acre-feet, enough water to almost fill a bone-dry Millerton Lake.
Jan 13, 2016
We just received this note from Lance Johnson, the former manager of the Madera Irrigation District. He tells us about all the water going through the Delta and out to sea.
To Families Protecting the Valley,
In that context the Bee and its readers should note that high river flows from Godzilla El Nino driven storms first reached the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta about December 20th. And from then until just January 9th total delta outflow (water lost to the ocean) was 468,296 acre-feet, enough water to almost fill a bone-dry Millerton Lake. That while State and Federal delta pumping averaged less then one-half of capacity and were virtually idling most days. Why? Environmental restrictions on their operation.
Lest there be any doubt, readers can see that data on-line for themselves at:
1) http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/operationscontrol/projectwide.cfm and at
2) http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/
Finally, if past is prologue we can expect to see water losses to the ocean (delta outflow) of well over 10 million acre-feet before this Godzilla El Nino rainy season is over.
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