SCCD Corner

Each spring, rivers and streams throughout the county rise as the snow in the mountains begins to melt away. In some years, this rise in the water happens gradually over time; in other years there can be drastic “spikes” that happen suddenly due to certain conditions. Rivers, streams and their tributaries fluctuate greatly in the amount of water that they carry from year to year and season to season. Many factors contribute to this annual spring runoff or “high water” and the timing of this phenomena is affected by many variables such as: how much total snow was received, how much snow-water equivalent was retained in the snow, spring precipitation amounts, wind velocities, increasing daytime temperatures, overnight low temperatures, dam regulation and water diversions, to name a few.