High Rivers Pose Ongoing Flood Threat

LATHROP, Calif. —  As more saturated levees threatened to rupture from rising river flows, officials warned Wednesday that coping with the record Northern California floods may be a way of life for weeks to come.

The warning was issued as flood control managers opened the spigots even wider at upstream dams in the Central Sierra to unburden nearly full reservoirs and make space for the arrival of regular winter runoffs and the spring snowmelt.

The releases from dams such as the New Melones east of Stockton created new pressure on the stressed Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where some levees have failed and others are in jeopardy.

“The San Joaquin River is going to be up for several weeks, if not above flood stage, at least at unseasonably high levels,” said Jeff Cohen of the state-federal Flood Control Center.

Farther north in the Sacramento River Basin, where floods washed away homes and orchards and burst levees last week, the picture appeared brighter. Officials said reservoirs should return to normal in five to 10 days.

“The Sacramento system is larger and has a bypass system that can get rid of a lot of water very quickly and more safely,” said Jim Taylor, spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers. “The San Joaquin system is smaller . . . and is getting more water than it is capable of handling.”

Record water from last week’s storms that was captured in reservoirs must be drawn down to create storage space for what officials expect will be a normal winter rainy season and for runoff from the heavy snowpack in the Sierra.

“We are barely into January, the earliest portion of the rainy season,” said Pete Weisser, of the state Department of Water Resources. “We have January, February and March to go.”

Preliminary flood damage estimates are at least $1.6 billion, and are expected to rise.

In the San Joaquin County farming community of Lathrop, walnut grower Toni Queirolo stood near a leaky levee that stands between his 60-acre farm and the high-running San Joaquin and said he understood.

“I realize that releases are going to continue from upstream,” he told government officials touring the flood area. “I just hope that we can get some help in here to strengthen this levee.”

Not far from Queirolo’s orchard, local emergency officials ordered a mandatory evacuation of an agricultural area south of Stockton when a series of leaks appeared along the San Joaquin levee. The order later was revised, enabling residents to leave at their own discretion.