Flood Review

[cv23]

What is it if not global warming lol ?

Maybe read the entire thread not just the last post?

[Drip_Torch]

Maybe read the entire thread not just the last post?

Oh gawd, that sounds tedious.

Isn’t it safe to assume that somewhere between the posts extoling the virtues and expertise of the infallible authorities; and the at sleep on switch incompetence of the unaccountable bureaucrats - lies the fact that lake ended up with a little too much water in it last year?

Probably won't happen again soon, but it might.

[Urban Cowboy]

^^ That's the thing about hindsight, it's always 20/20.

[steve mc]

three auto snow pillows send reading every 15min the data is there,if you can,t inturped the data get someone who can,this was poor management,not extreme weather,start using data and get it right, to be 5ft over full pool is not acceptable.

[Urban Cowboy]

three auto snow pillows send reading every 15min the data is there,if you can,t inturped the data get someone who can,this was poor management,not extreme weather,start using data and get it right, to be 5ft over full pool is not acceptable.

Really??

So knowing the snow pillow figures, will magically let someone know how much it's going to rain later on, and how fast said snow pillow is going to melt. Got it!

Seems they should have a soothsayer on payroll to avoid future issues.

Perhaps you should consider applying.

[steve mc]

snow survey show water and also show melt,snow melt is predictable.

[dirtybiker]

snow survey show water and also show melt,snow melt is predictable.

All predictions have plus/minus variations.

Many years ago the lake was so low the whole Valley smelled like a fish market.
Many beaches were just mud flats.

I sure don't want the poweres that be to overcompensate the wrong way because
of a one time flood occurance (one time in many, many years)

The last flooding I remember was a fair number of years ago.

I think they do a fine job and be left alone to do it.

[steve mc]

plus minus 10% they were not out by that.

[Glacier]

You do realize that the snowpack was BELOW normal last year until near the end of April, right? Even using the Mission Creek real time automated snowpillow would not have been enough to stop the flooding. By the time the snow pack ramped up like crazy in late April and early May, it was already way too late to open up the flood gates. There's nothing anyone could have done to stop the flooding last year. On April 1st, the snow pack was still close to record low. No one on earth could have predicted the rain and snow that was going to come in May. Any reasonable operator not wanting to get sued for causing drought would want to keep water in the lake just in case the Spring and Summer were to turn out to be dry.

I could save the tax payers a million bucks by simply posting this graph of Mission Creek (elevation 1794 m) to show you. No need for a flood review.

[steve mc]

if you look at historic range it shows the same spike as last year.

[cv23]

Last year appears to fit well within the Historical Range and not far off the Historical Average.
So why then did we experience some of the worst flooding in history and the highest lake level in history if not for human error in operating the flood control measures we as taxpayers invested tens of millions of dollars on installing specifically to prevent such situations?

[alanjh595]

I think that it was just an unusual set of circumstances where we got a heavy, late snow fall and then a sudden change to higher temps and a whole bunch of rain all at once.
Mother nature is very fickle sometimes.

[Glacier]

I think that it was just an unusual set of circumstances where we got a heavy, late snow fall and then a sudden change to higher temps and a whole bunch of rain all at once.
Mother nature is very fickle sometimes.

Exactly. Plus, we had RECORD low snowpack all the way into March, so when climate alarmists are running around claiming that Climate Change means we will have another hot dry summer (which we actually did), the operator has to take into consideration this possibility.

Last year the operator kept the lake level at the upper end of historic range throughout the winter. This was because the snowpack was at record low levels. If he had lowered the lake to normal levels, and a wet spring did not materialize, the lake would have been quite low come later summer, especially when considering the record dry summer.

The current lake level is significantly lower than it was at this time last year. This is because the snowpack is far higher than it was at this time last year. No one can foresee the future, so the operator can only go on the assumption of a worst case scenario -- a dry Spring and Summer. If that happens and he doesn't leave enough water in the lake, he gets crucified, or worse, fired.

[Urban Cowboy]

if you look at historic range it shows the same spike as last year.

And if you look at last year, you'd see that up until April, things were consistently at or below the historical low mark.

All the trouble came about because of a large late snow accumulation, followed directly by warm weather and constant rain.

Up until that shift, all indicators were pointing toward drought conditions.

[Urban Cowboy]

Last year appears to fit well within the Historical Range and not far off the Historical Average.
So why then did we experience some of the worst flooding in history and the highest lake level in history if not for human error in operating the flood control measures we as taxpayers invested tens of millions of dollars on installing specifically to prevent such situations?

How on earth are you coming to that conclusion?

Last year is the green line, the one that through April was at or below the historical "low" mark, and way below the historical average which is the gray line.

Everything went nuts in later April and May at which point it was too late to make up for lost time. Not to mention fish spawning became part of the equation, and a concern, at that point also.