Wednesday April 19, 2023
The Union Democrat —
New Melones Reservoir is holding more than twice as much water as it was in late November, with the surface level rising more than 120 feet since that time.
The reservoir, the fourth-largest in California at a maximum capacity of 2.4 million acre-feet, was sitting at nearly 60% full as of Friday and was 96% of its historical average for the date.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates New Melones, the first and only time that the reservoir filled to 100% of its total capacity was in July 1983. The fullest it has been since then was the 1998-99 wet season, when it was just shy of 2.4 million acre-feet.
As of Friday, the reservoir was holding more than 1.4 million acre-feet of water after adding 824,537 acre-feet since the 2023 water year began on Oct. 1.