Reservoirs need more rains

Northern California's second group of rainstorms in as many weeks marks relief for the drought-stricken region. But water managers cautioned that far more rain is needed in the coming weeks to loosen restrictions threatening to crimp agriculture statewide.

The National Weather Service says after the past weekend's drenching — which brought precipitation to as many as 6 inches for the past two weeks — the state's rainfall total through Sunday night stands at 90 percent of normal. Locally, 1.95 inches fell over Yuba-Sutter from Friday to Monday, according to George Cline, an NWS forecaster in Sacramento.

Federal and state officials reported modest gains in water levels at Lake Oroville and Shasta Dam, which together supply much of the Central Valley's farmland as well as the urban areas of Southern California. But rain in the valley and snowfall over the Sierra Nevada needs to be up to 30 percent above average to fill water sources back to their normal level, the state Department of Water Resources predicts.

"We're running out of time; we have a 10-15 percent chance of achieving that," said Amy Norris, spokeswoman for the DWR, which manages Oroville Dam.

On Monday, the DWR reported Lake Oroville to be at 45 percent of its average seasonal level, or 32 percent of capacity. The reservoir at Shasta Dam, where the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation stores the bulk of California's farm water, was a quarter full, 48 percent of its average level.

This month's rain has pulled reservoir levels up from their historically low levels from the start of February: 43 percent of the average in Lake Oroville and just 37 percent at Shasta. Those depths — less than half their seasonal averages over the past 30 years — led federal and state water authorities to cut back or eliminate this year's shipments to the water districts that serve farms, putting many crops' futures in doubt. (Water allowances can be adjusted monthly as rains replenish reservoirs.)

Though most of the danger to farm fields has been to communities in the southern valley, Colusa County almond crops also could be at risk, said John Edstrom, farm adviser for the University of California extension in Colusa. Though most area growers are in water districts with federal contracts — most of them slated to get 75 percent of their annual ration this year — some on the west side may get no water at all because their contracts are newer, leaving many farmers to lean on unreliable and often saline groundwater to keep their orchards active.

"The entire almond district from Orland down to Dunnigan, tens of thousands of trees could be at risk," he said Monday. "It's probably the worst conditions there in my 30 years as a farm adviser."

February's rains are a somewhat mixed blessing for the almond crop, since they disrupt bee pollination and raise the risk for fungal diseases on the nuts. But Edstrom declared the region's — and state's — need for more moisture overrides everything else.

"We're above normal (rainfall) for the month but still below normal for the year," he said. "A wet February and March hopefully can make up for that."

Rain in the Forecast

National Weather Service's Yuba-Sutter forecast this week:

• Today: Partly sunny; high temperature of 64 degrees.

• Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers; low of 44.

• Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of rain during the day, increasing to 60 percent after dark. High of 61, low of 42.

• Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers by day, tapering down in the evening to 30 percent. High of 59, low of 42.

• Friday: A slight chance of showers throughout the day. High of 61, low of 42.

• Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain throughout. High of 61, low of 42.

• Sunday: Rain possible over the day. High of 62, low of 41.