Despite El Niño, McClure remains 30 percent below average for February

Despite positive reports from state and other Valley water agencies on reservoir levels and water deliveries, Lake McClure’s water level remains about 30 percent below average for this time of year, and Merced Irrigation District officials are praying for wet weather in March and April.

On Wednesday, the Department of Water Resources said districts served by the State Water Project will receive 30 percent of their contracted amount, double the amount the department estimated in January.

Last week, Turlock Irrigation District also said it plans to double deliveries over last year, tentatively planning to deliver about 36 vertical inches to farmers in 2016.

But Merced Irrigation District has no such plans.

Lake McClure, which supplies all of MID’s water, was 17 percent of capacity on Thursday. Last year at this time, the lake had nearly 89,000 acre-feet of water, about 8 percent its capacity. The reservoir’s historical average is about 50 percent of capacity for this time of year.

“It’s hard to call it good news,” said Mike Jensen, a spokesman for MID. “We’re in a better position this year than last year, but that’s not saying much.”

The old 1920s Exchequer Dam still is fully exposed after appearing during the early years of drought when water levels began to sink. Some houseboats rest on dry docks, while the remaining houseboats have been moved to the deepest parts of Lake McClure. The Barrett Cove Marina has been dismantled as well after the ramps were left on dry land.

MID has taken advantage of the low water level to get maintenance work done. In January, crews removed a 65,000-pound gate from the New Exchequer Hydroelectric Project. After being submerged for five decades, the gate was removed from 100 feet of water. After inspecting the gate, MID will decide whether to refurbish it or to completely rebuild and reinstall it.

On the flip side, other reservoirs throughout the state are beginning to rise. Lake Shasta in Shasta County was 82 percent of its historical average for this time of year. Don Pedro Reservoir in Tuolumne County and San Luis Reservoir on the west side of Merced County each are more than 40 percent of their historical averages.

Boone Lek, chief of the reservoir coordinated operations at the Department of Water Resources, said reservoirs in the San Joaquin Valley haven’t been receiving as much inflow as in the Sacramento system.

The Merced area has seen about 8.6 inches of rain since the beginning of the rainy season, Oct. 1, which is about half an inch more than an average year, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford.

In an El Niño year where plenty of rain is expected, February has been dryer than an average year, something meteorologists have said is common for the warm-weather pattern.

Snowpack in the Central Sierra, which will run off into Lake McClure through the Merced River, was about 92 percent of average for this time of year, Lek said. Runoff into the Merced River and then into McClure is predicted at about 85 percent of average.

“It’s been dropping steadily since the beginning of the month due to the lack of rainfall we saw in January,” Lek said.

MID looks at the reservoir level and snowpack before announcing estimates for water deliveries. At this point, Lake McClure’s water level – and ultimately deliveries to farmers – is “completely weather dependent,” Jensen said. MID hopes to make an announcement “fairly soon” on water deliveries.

“Every watershed is a little bit different,” he said. “We all want to see more water. We’re keeping our fingers crossed there’s going to be more rain in March and April.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Despite El Niño, McClure remains 30 percent below average for February."