Prospects for warm rain atop massive Sierra snowpack raise Kings River concerns

March 7,2023 - Predictions for an atmospheric river event Thursday through Saturday that is likely to unleash tropically-spawned warm rain atop the huge Sierra Nevada snowpack up to above the 8,000feet level are causing concerns among the Kings River Water Association and other agencies.

Their biggest and most immediate uneasiness, however, isn’t with potential valleybound high Sierra water surges but with foothill streams over which there is no way to regulate high flows entering the Kings River’s valley reaches.

Although predictions of potential rainfall timing and intensity are still preliminary, Kings River Watermaster Steve Haugen said today that KRWA and other river agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are busy with projecting what sort of runoff and potential flooding with which they may have to deal.

The federal agency most concerned with flood management — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — is already acting. Fairly small flood releases were started by the Corps last month from Pine Flat Dam in response to earlier repeated major snowfall events.

Those discharges have been increased. At noon Monday, the Corps boosted the flood release from Pine Flat. Another flood release increase was scheduled at midnight last night.

A third is to take place at 12 noon today with an objective of boosting the downstream

Kings River flow at Crescent Weir south of Riverdale from 1,500 cubic feet per second to 3,000 c.f.s. Water releases from Pine Flat Dam over the next few days are likely to increase up to about 5,200 c.f.s. Many districts and canal companies are diverting river flows for much-needed groundwater recharge. However, property owners and residents need to monitor nearby river water levels and be alert for any flooding warnings.

Haugen said Pine Flat Reservoir and upstream power company reservoirs have more than 600,000 acre- feet of available capacity. Pine Flat has 558,000 acre-feet of water stored.

“Mill Creek and the other foothill streams that enter the river downstream from Pine Flat Dam are our biggest concern right now,” Haugen said. “There is no way to control or store the flows in those streams.”

Advance forecasts suggest that the peak flows in the largest such stream, Mill Creek, may produce a range from 4,500-14,500 c.f.s. Mill Creek, which carries only a trickle for much of most years, has recently carried system,” Bos said of her mayoral run. flows of a few hundred c.f.s. Releases from Pine Flat would be limited to minimal fish flows if very high unstorable downstream flows occur.

REDICTIONS FOR AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER event Thursday through Saturday that is likely to unleash tropically-spawned warm rain atop the huge Sierra Nevada snowpack up to above the 8,000-feet level are causing concerns among the Kings River Water Association and other agencies. Forecasters indicate the greatest amount of rainfall from the coming storm is likely to hit Friday and Friday night, possibly preceded and followed by lighter amounts. The KRWA and its 28 member irrigation agencies that serve more than one million acres on the valley floor have been working with the Corps of Engineers for the past two months on longer-range plans for handling what was already expected to be a big snowmelt runoff year.

A March 1 report based upon snow surveys measured from aircraft indicated the Kings River snowpack on the ground contained a water equivalent of 2,808,000 acre-feet.

More snow has since accumulated over the watershed with some to low elevations. Snowpack totals registered for the March 1 Kings River watershed on-the-ground California Cooperative Snow Survey show snow depths averaging 152.8 inches, 234% of the historical record average for March 1.

Average snowpack water content of 53.7 inches was measured; that is 238 percent of the historical average. Both average readings are far greater than those of historical April 1 average. April 1 is the date upon which Sierra snow accumulations typically reach the season’s maximum.

The deepest snow depth measured was 196.5 inches at Rattlesnake Creek, a snow course at the 9,900 foot elevation. The snowpack at Rattlesnake Creek and Rowell Meadow (elevation 8,850 feet) each had 66 inches of water content, the most found among the 17 courses measured.

Meanwhile, along the Kings River, sheriff’s departments and other emergency officials in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties are preparing as best they can for emergency situations that may arise.

The Kings River Conservation District, which manages and maintains Kings River flood control and protection downstream from south of Kingsburg to near Stratford on the South Fork and McMullen Grade on the North Fork system, has its levees and facilities in top condition.

For More Information, Please Contact:

STEVE HAUGEN, Kings River Watermaster, (559) 217-5249

RANDY McFARLAND, Public Information Consultant, (559) 260-2775 woman to serve as mayor, the first woman to serve on the planning commission and the first woman to receive the Citizen of the Year award from the Clovis Hall of Fame

Her parents settled in Clovis in 1903, before the town was even officially incorporated in 1912.

“Clovis was a family town where everyone knew each other. It was safe and friendly,” Bos said of growing up in Clovis.

In 1984, Bos was the first woman elected mayor of Clovis. The Gateway to the Sierras saw major growth and advancement under her leadership, including the revitalization of Old Town.

She even changed the nomenclature of councilman to councilmember.

“I had to challenge the ‘good old boys’

The Clovis Chamber of Commerce recognized Bos with the prestigious Einar Cook Leadership Award earlier this year. Besides documenting Clovis history at the Big Dry Creek Museum, Bos also contributes to the Roundup for its “Let’s Talk Clovis” segment.

Judith Preuss poses for photo at the Soroptimist International of Clovis display table during their Denim and Diamonds fundraiser dinner in 2017. (CR Photo)

Judith Preuss is another woman who helped shaped Clovis. Preuss served as vice president of the Chamber of Commerce for 19 years. In 1995 she received the Clovis Professional Business Woman of the Year Award.

At the beginning of her career with the Chamber, Pruess helped turn Big Hat Days into the commercial success that it is today.

“In 1983, the Chamber of Commerce changed (Big Hat Days) to a craft fair at the rodeo grounds, and they had so many people and it caused so much congestion on Clovis Avenue, the police department told them they could not have it there anymore,” Pruess recalled. “They went to the city and they got permission to have it on Pollasky. It just grew from there.”

She said her proudest accomplishment with the Chamber was establishing the Wild Flower Trail along the Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway.

“It was the first time the county, Cal Trans, the City of Clovis, and the Forestry Department worked together and formed a committee,” Preuss said. “It’s like the blossom trail only with wildflowers…That is my most famous accomplishment.”

Preuss is currently an active member of the Soroptimist International of Clovis, where she continues to find ways to improve the community.

In 2012, she and the Clovis Soroptimist chapter worked with the Marjaree Mason Center to build a safe house for battered women and children in Clovis.

“We completely furnished the seven bedroom six bath house, so that was our main thing. Since then we have supported them each year, with various projects,” Pruess said.

Preuss said if she had advice for younger women, it would be to make education their top priority.

Editor’s note: This is the Roundup’s first part of a two–part series honoring Women’s History Month. Make sure to read the second part, which focuses on women who are currently shaping Clovis, in our March 30 issue.