San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Hydrological Conditions Report For April 2014

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1 San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Hydrological Conditions Report For April 2014 J. Chester, C. Graham, A. Mazurkiewicz, & M. Tsang, May 13, 2014 Snow in the High Country The view from Bond Pass snow course in the high elevations of the Cherry Creek Watershed 1

2 Current Tuolumne System and Local Bay Area storage conditions are summarized in Table 1. Table 1 Current Storage As of May 1, 2014 Current Storage Maximum Storage Available Capacity Percentage Reservoir Acre- Millions of Millions of Millions of of Maximum Acre-Feet Acre-Feet Feet Gallons Gallons Gallons Storage Tuolumne System Hetch Hetchy 1 251, , , % Cherry 2 240, ,340 32, % Lake Eleanor 3 26,243 27, % Water Bank 335, , , % Tuolumne Storage 854,806 1,230, , % Local Bay Area Storage Calaveras 4 17,349 5,653 96,824 31,550 79,474 25, % San Antonio 41,121 13,399 50,496 16,454 9,374 3, % Crystal Springs 55,513 18,089 58,377 19,022 2, % San Andreas 18,008 5,868 18,996 6, % Pilarcitos 2, , % Total Local Storage 134,699 43, ,688 74,192 92,988 30, % Total System 989,505 1,458, , % 1 Maximum Hetch Hetchy Reservoir storage with drum gates activated. 2 Maximum Cherry Reservoir storage with flash-boards out. 3 Maximum Lake Eleanor storage with flash-boards in. 4 Available capacity does not take into account current DSOD storage restrictions. SFPUC SYSTEM STORAGE AS OF May 1, , Up Country Storage in 1,000 Acre-feet 1,400 1,300 1,200 1,100 1, Total WY2013 Total WY2014 Local WY2014 Up Country WY2014 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Local Storage in 1,000 Acre-feet Water Year Up-Country Storage WY2014 Total System Storage WY2014 Total System Storage WY2013 Local Storage WY2014 Figure 1: Monthly system storage for WY

3 Hetch Hetchy System Precipitation Index 5/ Current Month: The April six-station precipitation index is 2.33 inches, or 75.6% of the average index for the month. 40% Percentage of Annual Precipitation 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Historic % of Annual Precipitation Water Year 2014 OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP Figure 2: Monthly distribution of the Hetch Hetchy Six-station precipitation index as percent of the annual average precipitation. Cumulative Precipitation to Date: The accumulated six-station precipitation index for water year 2014 is 18.2 inches, which is 51.1% of the average annual water year total, or 55.7% of the average annual-to-date. Hetch Hetchy received 2.85 inches of precipitation in April, for a water year total of 19.6 inches. The cumulative Hetch Hetchy precipitation is shown in Figure 3 in red. Precipitation at Hetch Hetchy - Water Year 2014 Hetch Hetchy Precip. in % of Average Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Median WY2014 WY2013 WY2007 WY1977 WY1983 Figure 3. Water year 2014 cumulative precipitation measured at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir through April 30 th, Precipitation at the Hetch Hetchy gauge for wet, dry, median, and WY 2013 are included for comparison purposes. 5/ The precipitation index is computed using six Sierra precipitation stations and is an indicator of the wetness of the basin for the water year to date. The index is computed as the average of the six stations and is expressed in inches and in percent. 3

4 Tuolumne Basin Unimpaired Inflow Unimpaired inflow to SFPUC reservoirs and the Tuolumne River at La Grange as of April 30 th is summarized below in Table 2. Observed Flow Table 2 Unimpaired Inflow Acre-Feet April 2014 October 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014 Median 6 Average 6 Percent of Average Observed Flow Median 6 Average 6 Percent of Average Inflow to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir 87,025 88,140 90, % 145, , , % Inflow to Cherry Reservoir and Lake 59,948 72,413 73, % % Eleanor Tuolumne River at La Grange 169, , , % 337, , , % Water Available to the City 11,269 84,790 96, % 18, , , % 6 Hydrologic Record: Hetch Hetchy System Operations Draft and releases from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in the month of April totaled 24,576 acre-feet to meet SJPL deliveries and instream release requirements only. The instream release schedule at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for the month of April was Year Type C (dry conditions). This year type is based upon accumulated precipitation and runoff in water year 2014, starting October 1 st, The instream release requirement from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for the month of April was 35 cfs. As of May 1 st, 2014, the water year type is B, under which 80 cfs is required below Hetch Hetchy Reservoir during May. A power draft of 33,802 acre-feet was made from Cherry Reservoir during the month of April to manage forecasted inflow and reservoir conditions. A total of 12,682 acre feet of water was transferred from Lake Eleanor to Cherry Reservoir during the month of April. The required minimum release for the month of April at Cherry Reservoir was 5 cfs, and was 20 cfs at Lake Eleanor. Local System Treatment Plant Production The Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant average production rate for the month of April was 20 MGD. The Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant was in standby mode for the month with no water production into the regional transmission system. Local System Water Delivery The April delivery rate was 197 MGD which is a 5% increase over the March delivery rate of 187 MGD. 4

5 Local Precipitation Rainfall totals for the month exceeded the monthly average totals. Year-to-date rainfall totals remain below average. The April rainfall summary is presented in Table 3. Reservoir Table 3 Precipitation Totals at Three Local Area Reservoirs for April 2014 Percentage of Water Year Month Total Average for the to Date 7 (inches) Month (inches) Percentage of Average for the Year-to-Date 7 Pilarcitos % % Lower Crystal Springs % % Calaveras % % 7 WY 2014: Oct through Sep Figure 4: Water Year conditions for the Tuolumne River at La Grange and for the 80% water supply forecast range (triangles represent the 90% and 10% forecasts, the open diamond represents the median forecast). Snowmelt and Water Supply Warm temperatures throughout the month of April brought on snowmelt in the high country. However, a storm event during the last week in April added 1.25 to 2.0 inches of additional snow water equivalent. The late month event brought with it low snowlines. The May 1 st snow surveys indicate the snowpack is near 22% for conditions at the time. While well below normal conditions exist, conditions in the Tuolumne Basin are much better than other watersheds in the Sierra. The Tuolumne Basin Water Supply Forecast model was executed using the measured snow course, precipitation, and runoff data. The forecast indicates that the median amount of runoff that may occur this year is about 43% of the long-term median (Figure 4). The median forecast of April-through-July runoff is about 465 TAF, compared to 5

6 the long-term median runoff for the April-through-July period of 1,080 TAF. For natural flow at La Grange, there is an 80 percent chance that the April-to-July natural runoff will be between 365 TAF and 600 TAF. As a result of the shallow snowpack and limited precipitation, water available to the City is well below the normal volume. At this time 18,890 acre-feet has been available this water year (Figure 5). Figure 5: Calculated unimpaired flow at La Grange and the allocation of flows between the Districts and the City. 18,890 acre-feet of water has become available to the City during water year 2014 to date. cc HHWP Records Gibson, Bill Levin, Ellen Rydstrom, Todd Briggs, David Graham, Chris Mazurkiewicz, Adam Sandkulla, Nicole Carlin, Michael Hale, Barbara Meier, Steve Tsang, Michael Chester, John Hannaford, Margaret Moses, Matt Williams, Mike DeGraca, Andrew Kelly, Harlan Patterson, Mike Sandkulla, Nicole Dhakal, Amod Jue, Tyrone Nelson, Chris Dufour, Alexis Kehoe, Paula Ramirez, Tim Gambon, Paul Lehr, Dan Ritchie, Steve 6

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