God Giveth, and California Regulators Take It Away

"Lake" Oroville on July 22, 2021 (Chronicle photo)

In 2017 the Oroville dam was in danger of breaching, and downstream communities had to be evacuated. In 2021 the Oroville hydroelectric plant was shut down due to lack of water (picture, right).

Today the Oroville reservoir is at capacity. [bold added]

Lake Oroville contains 28% more water than it historically has on this date. While the lake also filled to the brim last year, three years ago water levels sank to their lowest point ever, a testament to California’s increasingly variable climate.

Oroville today (Chron photo)

This year, snowpack in the northern Sierra measured 123% at its peak, according to state data, helping boost flows in the Feather River, which feeds Lake Oroville.

Federally managed Shasta Lake, which is California’s largest reservoir, was 97% full on Monday, or about 115% of average.

At the beginning of this rainy season water managers were worried about too much rain.

Heading into the winter, many water managers were concerned that if huge atmospheric river storms pounded the state in November and December, that could have caused major flooding because there was less space left in the big reservoirs than in most years to catch runoff

Whether by luck or divine intervention California had a Goldilocks winter--above average rainfall but not too much to cause flooding. With plentiful water for everyone there would seem to be no need for austerity---unless regulators make Californians cut back because they know what's best for everyone.

Even with Lake Oroville at capacity, and other reservoirs above average, state water officials have said they expect to provide only 40% of the water requested by communities and irrigation districts in the coming year...

One of the reasons for the limited deliveries, state officials say, is an ongoing issue with the pumps that move the water. The State Water Project pumping facility in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta often draws in fish and kills them, including delta smelt, chinook salmon and steelhead trout. In response, the state reduces how much water is pumped.

Who built the faulty pumps? Who decided that fish were more important than the needs of millions of Californians? Those questions are never answered in the one-party State, whose decrees must be obeyed.