Flood And Drought Data:

 Flood And Drought Data:

Looking at the data points, Middle Fork Feather River (one of Upper Feather Watersheds main rivers) has a low CFS (cubic feet per second (volume and speed of water flow) in June-January. The CFS starts to fluctuate and become high around March time frame.
 

Looking at the map above, one can see that the Middle Fork Feather river does not tend to flood. It stays right around 4,845.56 ft, while a flood would be anything above 4852.5. 

Growing issues in the Upper Feather Watershed that could impact California:

  • Warming Temperatures:
    • 15% of California rely on hydroelectricity. The other portion is different forms of electricity such as gas that requires water to cool it down. The rising temperatures can lead to water stress and lower water supply.
    • The elevation of the watershed is lower meaning that it gets warmer faster. 
  • Snow Melt:
    • California relies on the winter snowfall. It accounts for "60% of the state’s consumptive water and up to one-third of total supply" (Avanzi). The runoff is caught by water storage reservoirs in the spring and the summer. It is then released to be used as drinking water and irrigation. 
    • Due to the rising temperatures, it reduces the amount of snowfall. This makes the snowmelt less efficient at generating streamflow and creates a negative consequence for the water supply used. 


Looking at the state wide snow pack data from this year compared to last year, one can see that the snow melt stayed about the same, but there was a little bit less snow fall in April/May. 


Looking at the Northern region, one can see that there was a significant less amount of snowfall from the months of March-June. 

Looking at the Central region, one can see that it is similar data to the central region. 
  • Droughts:

Looking at the drought periods for upper feather river, one can see that California is slowly getting drier and drier every year. In 2015-2020 there seems to be only small amount of rain. From 2020-2022, there was a stretch of dry years, but in end of 2022, a bunch of storms came through. 
  • Effects droughts have:
    • Less snow melt which means less water going to the river. This will result in the river starting to dry up. This river supports many agriculture farms. California supports 11.04% of Americas farms. It also supplies 21% milk, and 23% cheese. Without water, it would cause the crops to dry up and die. There would also be less water for agriculture animals. Not just agriculture animals, but also wild animals and humans. It would also start affecting fish, and some fish are endangered in California water ways. 




Resources:

Alexander, Kurtis., Gonzalez, Carlos Avila., Wathen, Guy. The Big Melt Transformed California. (2023). San Francisco Chronical.  https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2023/california-big-melt-water/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CMore%20of%20the%20watershed%20will,are%20more%20immediately%20reducing%20snowfall.

Avanzi, Francesco., Maurer, Tessa., Malek, Sami., et. al. FEATHER RIVER HYDROLOGIC OBSERVATORY: IMPROVING SNOWPACK FORECASTING FOR HYDROPOWER GENERATION USING INTELLIGENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (2018). University Of California. https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2019-11/Energy_CCCA4-CEC-2018-001_ADA.pdf

Drought. (2024). OEHHA. https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/changes-climate/drought#:~:text=Warming%20temperatures%20and%20periods%20of,extent%20and%20severity%20of%20droughts.

Monitoring and modeling soil moisture to improve runoff forecasting and drought characterization in the Feather River Basin. (2022). USGS. https://www.usgs.gov/centers/california-water-science-center/science/monitoring-and-modeling-soil-moisture-improve

Track California Snow Conditions. (2024). California Cooperative Now Surveys Programs. https://snow.water.ca.gov/

Upper Feather River Watershed. (2016). Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. https://www.featherriver.org/2016/08/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThat%20slower%20snowmelt%20is%20a%20less%20efficient,unrecognized%20negative%20consequence%20for%20water%20supply%2C%E2%80%9D%20Harpold







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