Reservoir levels are still well above average at 99.4 percent of capacity in spite of an extremely dry January. We received just 1.26 inches of rain this month, well below the January average of 10.93 inches. The last time we had a dry January was in 2008, when we received just 1.08 inches. This month’s rainfall is a stark contrast to the first half of the 2012/13 rainy season. By December 31, 2012, we had received 33.31 inches, compared to the yearly average of 19.64 for the same date.
Here are the current water statistics:
Reservoir Levels: As of January 27, reservoir storage is 79,082 acre-feet.* The average for this date is 64,842 acre-feet, or 81.5 percent of capacity. Total capacity is 79,566 acre-feet.
Rainfall: Rainfall this year (July 1, 2012, to January 27, 2012) is 34.57 inches. Last year for the same period we had 16.93 inches; average is 28.85 inches.
Water Use: Water use for the week ending January 27 averaged 16.6 million gallons per day, exactly the same as water use for the same week last year.
Supply Source: Last week we averaged 11.6 million gallons per day from our reservoirs and 5.0 million gallons per day from the Russian River.
Creek Releases: During the month of December 2012, MMWD released 142 million gallons, or a total of 434 acre-feet, into Lagunitas and Walker creeks in west Marin. We release water throughout the year to maintain adequate flows for the fishery per our agreement with the State of California.
Current water use and reservoir figures can be found on our homepage.
*One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.
