Water Conditions Report
January 27, 2023
| Total Combined Storage: | 143,798 AF |
| Date: | January 26, 2023 |
Clear Lake:
| 1/26/23 | 1/26/22 | 12/26/22 | Change from prev. year | Change from prev. month | ||
| Level: | 4.26 | 0.53 | -2.33 | 3.73 | 6.59 | Ft. Rumsey @ Lakeport Gauge |
| Available (1): | 28,773 | 0 | 0 | 28,773 | 28,773 | Acre Feet |
| Releasing (2, 3) | 8.47 | 10.70 | 0.11 | -2.23 | 8.36 | Cubic Feet/Second |
| Precipitation Year to Date (3) | 19.96 | 13.29 | 4.49 | 6.67 | 15.47 | Inches |
Indian Valley Reservoir:
| 1/26/23 | 1/26/22 | 12/26/22 | Change from prev. year | Change from prev. month | ||
| Elevation: | 1428.45 | 1391.53 | 1389.98 | 36.92 | 38.47 | Ft. MSL |
| Storage: | 115,025 | 47.036 | 45,177 | 67,989 | 69,848 | Acre Feet |
| Releasing (2) | 8.44 | 11.10 | 8.18 | -2.66 | 0.26 | Cubic Feet/Second |
| Precipitation Year to Date (3) | 19.81 | 20.56 | 4.78 | -0.75 | 15.03 | Inches |
(1) Remaining water available for release from Clear Lake per Solano Decree during irrigation season
(2) Daily Mean Release
(3) Cache Creek Dam Leakage
The Cache Creek Dam is a concrete, gravity-fed dam built in 1914. The dam has fifteen 6-foot-wide by 7-foot-high, concrete low-level bay openings for releasing water for irrigation and flood control. Each low-level opening consists of a heavily reinforced cast iron sluice gate with bronze sealing face paired with a concrete embedded, cast iron gate frame with a bronze sealing face. The 108-year-old sluice gate/frame assemblies have developed slight imperfections between the bronze sealing faces due to years of operational wear, cavitation, and erosion from sediment-laden flows. These imperfections on the sealing faces have resulted in water leakage finding its way around, and through, the gate/frame assemblies when the gates are in their complete 100% closed position. Leakage rates from the individual gates vary widely depending on the water level of Clear Lake, the water level directly upstream of the Dam, and the current siltation load experienced on the front of the gates.
Siltation load on the upstream side of the sluice gates is a major contributor to the reduction of leakage around the gates at Cache Creek Dam. Accumulation of silt, sand, mud, and organic material coupled with weeks-to-months of not operating the sluice gates has resulted in previous years’ very low leakage rates. Due to the extremely low lake levels of Clear Lake experienced late last year, it afforded the District a very rare opportunity to perform a complete inspection of the sluice gates and concrete structure in early December (as part of compliance with the State’s dam regulatory inspection process). In preparation for that inspection, a complete cleaning of all accumulated silt was performed to enable a close, detailed inspection. The current higher-than-normal leakage rates that we are experiencing at Cache Creek Dam are in part due to the removal of all accumulated silt in front of the gates during the December inspections.
For additional information or inquiries, please contact us at 530.662.0265 or info@ycfcwcd.org.
(4) YTD (year to date: water year is October 1 through September 30)
The Water Management Plan provides information regarding the District’s water rights and water management activities. The Plan includes an Action Program that outlines improvements the District may pursue in order to better meet beneficial water needs.
Click here for more information.
Click on the links below to access United States Geological Survey information regarding creek and lake levels.
Indian Valley Reservoir Storage
Cache Creek at Clear Lake near Lakeport
Cache Creek at the Rumsey Bridge
Cache Creek at Yolo