PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (CA) Flooding continues for CA - Day 8

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 20:36:06 EST

Summary: Flooding continues in California during a short break in rainfall, with more storms returning Wednesday Feb 15.

The mandatory evacuation order for the Oroville, CA area was lifted today around 1:30 pm PST. This area had been under evacuation order since Sunday evening due to potential flooding from a possible Oroville Dam break. In response to this situation, the USGS California Water Science Center (CAWSC) participated in several multi-agency command briefings today by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Emergency Operations Center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The CAWSC remains in contact with officials from NOAA/NWS, Reclamation, and DWR on this issue. The DWR reports that reservoir water levels continue to drop, and models indicate that continued releases from the damaged spillway should provide sufficient storage capacity to handle runoff from the next storm system. The USGS will continue to monitor the situation as the next storm system brings snow and rain to the region on Wednesday.

Although no rain is expected for California today, a few north central counties remain under flood warning. The NOAA/NWS California Nevada River Forecast Center reports many California rivers remain above flood (7 gages) or monitor (26 gages) stage today, including 13 gage locations along the Sacramento River and 2 gages locations on the Feather River.

The California Water Science Center (CAWSC) has no crew performing flood response today but crews are planning to deploy tomorrow. No safety issues have occurred during this series of storms and all staff have followed USGS field reporting and safety protocols. Updates will continue to be provided as necessary.