Lake Cachuma Water Level

[MikeR]

Cachuma has risen 6'and is currently at 35.2% full but will rise more as the upstream reservoirs, Jameson and Gibraltar, fill. Gibraltar is showing it's spilling now, Jameson is 8' away. Jameson rose 8' in the last storm so the next storm should fill it. This will mean Cachuma will get the full gain from the runoff of all subsequent storms and should rise more rapidly.
Below are the most recent graph and charts showing the gains.

[pd]

I called Cachuma today and the launch ramp is now closed until further notice. I think it’s probably because the road out to the last ramp is basically dirt, now mud. Thanks Mike for providing the water level update. Can’t wait to see how things go this winter. Off to a great start.

[Kelly Ripa]

I would think that between cloud seeding and mother nature due to the fact the Santa Ynez river is giving all of it's runoff to it that it will spill.

[MikeR]

Here's the latest. Lake Cachuma has over 50' to go to hit the spillway but has risen 9' since December. Now that Gibraltar is spilling into it and Jameson should be full and spilling tonight, Cachuma will come up more rapidly with the subsequent storms.

[pd]

“January Miracle”?

Well Margie is plugged - 108%! She’s a winner!!

Naci is rising very very fast as usual. Will be above 50% tonight I think.

Lopez is tanking still but at least moving up slowly - ramp should be accessible soon. Damn I miss that lake.

Cachuma is slow but steady too, maybe 10-15’ up so far but that should get us off the burial grounds deal which has been a real hassle, and back to a regular ramp. The workers will probably need a couple weeks to get it figured out though.

Very grateful.

[MikeR]

Jameson is now spilling. Cachuma is now over 40%. All runoff is heading into Cachuma from upriver now!
You can see lake changing hourly at 805webcams.com
This is just what we've needed and have been waiting for! Let' hope it continues.

[mark poulson]

Jameson is now spilling. Cachuma is now over 40%. All runoff is heading into Cachuma from upriver now!
You can see lake changing hourly at 805webcams.com
This is just what we've needed and have been waiting for! Let' hope it continues.

Thank you for the link.

[pd]

22K+ CFS coming in currently.

[Kelly Ripa]

It rose 30 feet overnight folks.

[MikeR]

It rose 30 feet overnight folks.

Yup!! 71.8% full as of the last reading. Awesome to see!

[Viking]

Guess the Santa Cruz Break is back in play now!

[pd]

She is forecasted by the water managers to SPILL Friday or Saturday.

Unbelievable.

Prediction based on seeing this a couple times before: fishing is underwhelming/disappointing this spring. Then things rebound and we enjoy a great fishery again year round for a number of years.

[pd]

Guess the Santa Cruz Break is back in play now!

Too deep

[MikeR]

She is forecasted by the water managers to SPILL Friday or Saturday.

Unbelievable.

Prediction based on seeing this a couple times before: fishing is underwhelming/disappointing this spring. Then things rebound and we enjoy a great fishery again year round for a number of years.

Exactly what I remember when this happened before. It took a year or so to settle down and the fishing to improve, but man o man is that lake going to be target rich or what now!!!???

[Kelly Ripa]

Dead horse for me...Can you get there? Where do they put the boom now days? We used to be able to get there by about 100 yrds in the 80's and 90's. They probably don't know If I remember right in years past when this happened the incoming water had zero oxygen or fire retardant or something that wiped out the fishery without us knowing it. I hope it's not the case again. We caught fish after this happened but by April we caught emaciated fish and it just kind of fell apart for years. Heck I caught a 9 there in 21' from a rental boat and my partner had a smallie over 4. It would be a shame to see a repeat of that and I hope all is well there.

[pd]

Anyones guess where they’ll put the boom this year. The cool thing is Cachuma has been less paranoid over the last 5-10 years about that stuff. The new people working there seem to get it. You can fish the dam, for example, and we get hassled a lot less than back in the old days. With any luck they’ll just give up on the old concept or roping off the narrows, Cruz, and Cachuma.

[Kelly Ripa]

True the buoy's are not on the coves by the cistern and dam...It has been much better in that respect

[mark poulson]

Can you fish the stone fence just south of the water tower?