Lake Kaweah reaches capacity, no evacuations in Visalia expected

Sheyanne N Romero and Lauren Jennings, Visalia Times-Delta
·3 min read
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Lake Kaweah reached capacity early Thursday morning, according to the data provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

With the lake at capacity, downstream flows reached Visalia Thursday morning. The additional flow could cause several waterways in Visalia to reach capacity and spill over, flooding nearby neighborhoods. However, no flooding had been reported as canals swelled.

“We have been monitoring water levels 24-hours a day and have been preparing for this situation,” Visalia Fire Chief Dan Griswold said. “Lake Kaweah...activated the spillway, but we are optimistic that the flow being released from the spillway may not overwhelm our waterways in Visalia, but could exceed capacity at some points.”

The exact locations that could be a problem weren't immediately known. Crews have been cleaning drains and canals for weeks in preparation for more water.

The Army Corps of Engineers reduced releases from Terminus Dam to keep the flows downstream, toward Visalia, within the channel capacity. Water is released several times throughout the year. However, never to these levels.

No evacuation warnings or orders are expected in Visalia because of the releases from Terminus Dam and the work done in advance to control the water levels as much as possible, city officials said.

Visalia Unified School District is expected to remain open for the remainder of the week. Sports and afterschool programs will continue, for now.

“We continue to monitor our waterways here in Visalia, but advise our residents to remain prepared and vigilant,” Griswold said.

The city has already provided thousands of sandbags to residents. Sand bags are still available at the northwest Station 55 fire station on Ferguson Avenue and Shirk Road.

To sign up for text alerts, residents can text “VISALIA” to 1 (844) 713-7830 or for Spanish text alerts text “Español” to 1 (844) 713-7830.

Porterville

Since early Wednesday morning, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux issued two evacuation warnings along the Tule River in the Porterville area. Lake Success reached capacity to the point the water is running over the spillway at Schafer Dam.

The spillway at Lake Success is operational.

"We are monitoring everything very, very closely," Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said Wednesday night. "We have a lot of good resources in place and were are going to keep you aware of what's going on."

Porterville Phase I includes all homes, businesses and structures on both on both sides of the Tule River, from Richard L. Schafer Dam at Lake Success, in Porterville, to the east side of Road 284.

The order applies to the area from Schafer Dam, west on Avenue 146, to Road 284, south on Road 284 to the south side of the Tule River, from the south side of the Tule River to the Schafer Dam, and north along Schafer Dam to Avenue 146.

The Porterville Phase II evacuation order is for the area west of Porterville on Olive Avenue (Avenue 152) to Avenue 144 and the Friant/Kern Canal to the Tule River and Westwood Street.

"It is incredibly important to abide by all orders, warnings, closures, and roadblocks," sheriff's officials stated.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Lake Kaweah reaches capacity, localized flooding in Visalia expected