Water managers are keeping a close eye on the rapidly increasing spring runoff from this winter’s historic snowpack.
“The concern is we had a cold and wet winter, we’ve had a lot of snow accumulated in mountains, particularly in the Sierra Nevada,” Josh West, a professor of Environmental Studies at USC, told KTLA Friday. “We have places already flooding in Central California.”
Yosemite National Park announced that most of Yosemite Valley will close from Friday night until at least Wednesday, May 3, due to anticipated flooding along the Merced River.
While metro Los Angeles might not be in the immediate path of potential flooding from the Sierras, the Department of Water and Power is still bracing for a surge.
Officials expect 130 billion gallons of water will make its way to Los Angeles this spring and summer through the L.A. Aqueduct – potentially enough to meet 80% of the city’s annual demand.
“It’s a very significant, epic runoff situation,” said Adam Perez, aqueduct manager with LADWP. “We do have this amount of water. It does put all agencies, all the water manager, in a tough spot trying to manage so much of the runoff.”
LADWP says a typical runoff season lasts through June but with the record snowpack this year it could last through August.