Videos Show California Releasing Water From Reservoirs After Massive Storms

• California has seen a series of recent storms that have filled some of its reservoirs to capacity, leading water management officials to release water from several reservoirs.
• Videos of the reservoir releases have been circulating on social media.
• An overwhelmed reservoir can lead to a breach of nearby levees, which can cause severe flooding.
• Decisions are being made to reduce the risk of flooding downstream and to make room for more precipitation on the way.

Attention has turned to the capacity of California's reservoirs after a series of recent storms have filled some lakes to the brim.

California was hit by several atmospheric rivers over the winter, releasing a deluge of precipitation. Higher than normal rainfall has remedied much of California's years-long drought, but a flood risk has led to officials releasing water from several California reservoirs, a process depicted in several videos circulating on Twitter.

After the latest atmospheric river last week, several California reservoirs were full or overflowing—something that hasn't been seen for decades at Whale Rock Reservoir, one of the reservoirs that filled past capacity. The excess water has water management officials releasing water in some areas to prepare for more to come.

On Monday, TV channel EuroNews shared a video under its Twitter handle NoComment depicting water being released in massive amounts from California's Lake Oroville.

"After storms have improved drought conditions and filled state reservoirs, authorities have released water from California's second-biggest reservoir, Lake Oroville," NoComment tweeted with the video.

Too much water flooding reservoirs at once can stress nearby levees, leading to a breach that can release massive amounts of water and flood nearby communities with devastating consequences. Earlier this month, the Pajaro River levee ruptured, causing severe flooding in Watsonville, California. Residents in a nearby agricultural community evacuated, but streets, cars, homes, businesses and schools were submerged.

Officials also released water from Folsom Lake in north-central California. U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley tweeted a video of thousands of cubic feet of water headed toward the ocean because the reservoir was too full.

"We are releasing 20,000 cubic feet per second into the ocean from Folsom because there's no place to store it," Kiley tweeted this past Friday.

Several people responded with frustration to Kiley's tweet, calling on California to build more reservoirs to contain the excess water.

A spokesperson from the state's Department of Water Resources told Newsweek that the department is working to capture as much water as possible while maintaining flood control.

"With the storms we are seeing this season, reservoir operators must balance between when to conserve and when to release water from reservoirs," the spokesperson said. "During the winter season, many reservoirs must comply with flood control requirements, which means reducing reservoir levels to allow room for water from the incoming precipitation to avoid flood events and impacts to communities downstream."

AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter told Newsweek that water management officials are likely releasing water to make room for more precipitation expected to hit the state through Wednesday.

"When you have a situation where you are dealing with too much water too quickly, that leads to escalating flooding concerns," Porter said.

Flooding impacts can increase as snowpack melt begins in the spring, further filling reservoirs, lakes, rivers and other bodies of water.

"What you're seeing at Oroville and elsewhere is water management decisions being made in order to reduce risk of flooding downstream," Porter said. "Decisions are being made that are taking into account not only what happened but what's to come."

Update, 3/21/23, 1 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a comment from a California Department of Water Resources spokesperson.