State Water Board Drought Year Water Actions

KAWEAH RIVER ANALYSIS

May 2014 Update

The following information on projected water supply, demand, and availability, prepared by the Division of Water Rights for the Kaweah River Watershed and a portion of the Middle South Valley Floor Watershed, is being provided to assist water right holders in planning for water availability in the coming months. This information is the Division's best projection, based on current hydrologic data. These are estimates only and subject to revision and update.

Charts and Forecasts

The projected water supply for the Kaweah River Watershed was developed using historical water supply data at both a 90% exceedance level and 50% exceedance level. The exceedance level is the likelihood, based on historical data, that the actual flow will exceed the projected amount. To determine which exceedance level best fits actual flow conditions, the Division is tracking the flows daily in acre-feet per day and comparing that to the monthly total amount projected by the Division divided by the number of days in the month to show acre-feet per day. The attached graph  shows this daily tracking.

• Current Watershed Conditions
  • Seasonal Kaweah River and Middle South Valley Floor Watersheds Graph 
    
    
• Curtailment Notices Issued
  • None, due to continuing, intermittent storm events.
    
    
• Curtailment Projections
• Pending
  • All post-1914 water rights and junior pre-1914 claims. There is only sufficient supply projected to meet approximately 20 percent of the total demand from pre-1914 claims.
• Projected
  • Between June 15th and July 15th, all pre-1914 claims
  • Between July 15th and August 15th, projected supply will not meet all riparian demand, and any remaining supply must be shared among all riparian users.

Notes

1. Curtailments can be lifted temporarily or permanently if water supply conditions improve.
2. The State Water Resources Control Board may consider needs for limited diversions for public health and safety needs where there is no other water supply available for emergency human health, sanitation and safety needs.
3. Diversions for hydropower generation, where all water is returned to the stream, may continue during curtailment.
4. The curtailment notice does not affect water delivered by contract from state, federal or local agencies, unless the curtailment prevents an agency's ability to divert water under its water right. Contracts using water withdrawn from reservoir storage that had been collected prior to the curtailment are not affected.

Kaweah River and Middle South Valley Floor Watersheds Boundary

(Updated 6/6/14)