Recent El Niño Storms Lift Some South Bay Reservoirs To Capacity
GILROY (KPIX 5) – Reservoirs in Santa Clara County are reaping the benefits of recent storms, with four reservoirs at capacity or above.
The latest numbers from the Santa Clara Valley Water District shows that El Niño has really been coming through, but there is still a ways to go.
Officials said Almaden and Stevens Creek reservoirs are at 100 percent capacity as of this week, while Uvas and Vasona reservoirs are above capacity, at 102 percent.
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The rest of the district's 10 reservoirs are hovering around half to two-thirds full. Taking all reservoirs into account, the district said they are at 65 percent capacity.
Near the Uvas Reservoir, Miller Avenue in Gilroy has become a neighborhood spectacle, with water spilling over the roadway. The reservoir spilled its banks over the weekend, due to the recent storms.
Neighbors said the reservoir was bone dry last year, and one could hike across the bottom.
"It's actually really neat, I like seeing water flowing through, versus it being dry," said Peter Melendez of Gilroy.
Robby Coy has lived in the area for nearly two decades. "I've lived out here in Morgan Hill since '97, and this is the most full I've actually seen it," he said.
Elsewhere, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is at 83 percent, because warm weather in February melted away large amounts. State officials will meet in April to decide how much to relax the mandatory cutbacks.
