Jamo,
I agree on the storage as we definitely need more of it. They have talked for years about raising the height of Shasta Dam, but the place it is built would make it a major undertaking and would cost far more than the original dam, even in the dollars back then. Another thing is they have taken out two or three of the small dams up in the mountains here the past couple of years. Said it cost to much to maintain them, so the places they served with electric power and water are now having to get it from other places. Right now Shasta Lake is just 21 feet from the top but won't make it as that last 20 feet takes a huge amount of water. But it is the highest it has been in the past 5 years and this Summer was the lowest it has been since the lake was first filled. Keswick couldn't hold much more water even if it was higher as the canyon there is pretty narrow. Whiskeytown to me would be the best place up here to maybe try to add storage. But I doubt they will do anything to any of the dams. I think we are about maxed out on storage capacity up here, but they need more on farther South so that what is let out here to make sure they have room for the snow run off isn't just wasted by going down the river and into the bay. And we wouldn't have any shortage of water if so much didn't have to be let out to run South and keep the river flowing. In normal Winters, we can just make it, but with the drought we have had it is worse than many people realize. They did announce last week that the farmers up in this area would get more water this year, so I guess the ones on South of here will have theirs cut. It is a difficult situation right now as there just isn't enough storage to meet the ever expanding needs for water.
Ron
Ron
