PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (CA) Flooding continues for California

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 18:39:51 EST

Summary: Flooding continues in California as storms move out of the region.

The last of the recent storm system has moved out of region, with lingering showers expected over the next few days.

Statewide, streamflows and river stage remain high in response to recent rainfall, runoff, and snow melt. The NOAA/NWS California Nevada River Forecast Center reports many California rivers remain above flood or monitor stage today, including 13 gage locations along the Sacramento River, and 4 gages on the San Joaquin River. The San Joaquin River near Vernalis (11303500) remains above danger stage today and will continue to exceed this level for several days.

The California Water Science Center (CAWSC) has 9 crews responding to this event today from the following service areas: Santa Maria, CA (4); Sacramento, CA (2); and Santa Cruz, CA (3).

Crews today are performing recessional measurements, making repairs, and flagging high-water marks. Crews from Santa Maria are performing numerous repairs and will be conducting indirect measurements at 16 locations following the February 17 storm that caused major flooding in Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas.

Crews in northern California continue to experience site access challenges due to flooding. For example, a USGS cableway on the Napa River in Napa, CA (11458000) has been condemned due to bank erosion and slumping. Also, high flows along the Sacramento River have closed boat ramps and prevented USGS crews from accessing several sites for high-flow measurements. As a solution to this problem, the USGS is collaborating with a streamgaging crew from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to perform streamflow measurements on the Sacramento River at Verona, CA (11425500). Measurements will be collected using a remote controlled ADCP (Q-Boat) belonging to DWR. Another USGS crews is performing flow verification measurements today on the San Joaquin River in coordination with DWR.

A USGS media event was held today at USGS streamgage 11172175, Coyote Creek at Milpitas, CA CA where reporters accompanied a USGS field crew measuring streamflow from a cableway. On February 21, Coyote Creek experienced flooding that caused the evacuation of about 14,000 residents in San Jose.

Managers from the CAWSC remain in contact with water resource managers from the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Department of Water Resources to coordinate USGS sampling or high-water measurements.

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 during the course of this event.