Home » Santa Clarita News » Water » California Collects Nearly A Trillion Gallons Of Water From February Storms
Photo by Sydney Croasmun.

California Collects Nearly A Trillion Gallons Of Water From February Storms

Over the month of February, California has collected nearly a trillion gallons of rainwater, with the Castaic lower lagoon at its maximum capacity, officials said.

Throughout California, there are 154 different reservoirs that provide water to society, according to Chris Orrock, a spokesperson for the Department of Water Resources.

“Out of the 154 reservoirs, 67 of the main ones have received 2,858,344 acre feet of increased storage since the beginning of February,” Orrock said.

The 2,858,344 acre feet of water collected is approximately 857,503,200,000 gallons of water, and that does not account for the water collected in the other 87 smaller reservoirs.

The total water capacity for the 67 reservoirs totals 32.1 million acre feet and now have 23,086,792 acre feet, which is about 72 percent capacity, according to Orrock.

An acre foot of water is equivalent to a football field covered in a foot of water, which is approximately 300,000 gallons of water.

“An acre foot of water is enough to support a family of four for a year,” Orrock said. “Since the beginning of the year, we have collected more water so far than we did all of last year and we still have more storms coming.”

Currently, the Castaic upper lake is at about 80 percent of capacity and the lower lagoon is full, with water flowing over the dam into Castaic Creek, according to Chris Mowry, acting superintendent for Castaic Lake.

“The lagoon water is local rainfall water that we received from the watershed, which flows into the upper lake near Elizabeth Canyon and then gets passed down through the dam into the lagoon,” Mowry said. “The watershed is the mountain range that slopes down toward Elizabeth Creek.”

Currently, the upper lake level is lower to make room for when the snow pack starts melting.

“We are being kept lower to make room for winter storms,” Mowry said. “Most of the water is still in the snow pack. Once summer comes and it starts melting, we will be close to full.”

The water that is able to stay in the upper lake that is used for residents and commercial use comes from the State Water Project, according to officials.

The water that comes into the upper lake, which is distributed throughout parts of Southern California, comes from northern lakes and is passed down, according to officials.

“Castaic Lake is the western terminus from the State Water Project,” Mowry said.


Sponsored Articles


Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or send an email to newstip@hometownstation.com. Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking KHTS Santa Clarita News Alerts delivered right to your inbox. Report a typo or error, email Corrections@hometownstation.com

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 - Santa Clarita News - Santa Clarita Radio

California Collects Nearly A Trillion Gallons Of Water From February Storms

6 comments

  1. With the end of the water shortage, the monthly water bills should be going down.

  2. The story fails to report that the number seems huge until you realize California received EIGHTEEN trillion gallons of rain in February, so we only saved 1/18th of that, 5.56%. The remaining 94.44% went right into the ocean, wasted.

  3. In 2014, California voters passed Proposition 1—a $7.5 billion water bond intended to provide significant investments in the state’s drought-challenged water systems.

    That money has been already spent, unwisely.
    No not a single additional storage facility was built.
    Someone just wasted that money, just like all the water lost tot the ocean.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Louie Diaz

Louie was born and raised in Santa Clarita. At the age of two Louie lost his vision due to a brain tumor. However, Louie doesn't let blindness stop him from doing what ever it is he wants to accomplish. Growing up some of his favorite hobbies were wood working, fishing and riding bikes. Louie graduated from College of the Canyon in December of 2017, with a Broadcast Journalism degree. Growing up Louie has always wanted to be a fire fighter or a police officer, but because of his blindness Louie knew that wouldn't work. Louie has always loved listening to police and fire radio traffic, using a scanner, and he figured if he was going to listen to the scanner so much, he should do something with it.