HSFC_2017_01_11

XXXXX• SFChronicle.com |Wednesday,January 11, 2017|A

can happen, a lot ofwater will
flow under the bridge in
Guerneville.About 45,
cubic feet ofit per second, the
U.S. Geological Survey said.
Elsewhere in theNorth Bay,
flooding forced theclosure of
Highway 128 inNapa County,
possibly until theweekend.
Heavy wind and rain prompt-
ed park rangers toclose Muir
Woods NationalMonument,
Stinson Beach, Tennessee
Valley andPoint Bonita.
Small crowds in Ross and
San Anselmowatched the
roilingwaters of CorteMade-
ra Creek asit came within 6
inches of jumping into the
street during the day Tuesday.
“It’s asclose asit can get
withoutflooding,” said Rich
Gutierrez,53, theowner of a
bike shop inRoss, who was
watching thewater dance
around the bottom of the
LagunitasAvenue Bridge,
which had been raised in
recentyears to prevent flood-
ing.
By evening, the creek rose
more than a footabove its
usualflood stag e of 13 feet and
threatened the businesses that
had linedup their sandbags in
preparation.
Flood alarmswere sounded
at 6:45 p.m. and thoughevac-
uation orderswere issued for
downtown San Anselmo,
crowds still gathered towatch
the waters rise.While they
pooled in thestreets and
lappedat lines of sandbags set
up to keep them out, they
appeared to leave most homes
and businesses untouched.
As the rainsstopped, the
floodwaters receded and the
evacuation orderswere lifted
about 9 p.m.Authorities
planned tokeep watch, but
said they believed the danger
had passed.
In San Francisco, morning

king tides rose to 7 feet

around 9 a.m., spillingwater

onto the Embarcadero and

other low-lying areas and

prompting the Weather Ser-

vice to issue a coastal-flood

advisory. In the afternoon, the

rain loosened rocks that tum-

bled onto busyO’Shaugnessy

Boulevard in theGlen Park

neighborhood,shutting the

thoroughfare.

BART service between the

BalboaParkand Colmasta-

tionswas halted forabout

four hours after two trains

struck a storm-tossed tree on

the tracks.

Late Tuesday, a mudslide

closedState Route 84 between

Fremont and Sunol in south-

ern Alameda County.

The entire regionstretching

south intoMonterey County

was under a high-windwarn-

ing, a particularly troubling

concern for emergency crews

rushing from call to call

across the already water-

logged region.

“High winds will likely

bring a lot more treesdown,”

said Stev e Anderson, a meteo-

rologist with the Weather

Service.

In the Sierra, a blizzard

warningwas in effect until

noonWednesday, followed by

a winterstorm warning

through 10 a.m.Thursday.

Driving will be fraught with

delays and dangers, and road

closures are likely, authorities

said.

Squa w, Alpine and Boreal

ski resortswere closed Tues-

day, and Northstarwas oper-

ating only five of its 20 lifts.

At the south end of LakeTa-

hoe, Heavenly ski resort man-

aged to operate four ofits 29

lifts inski conditions that

were not for thefaint of heart.

At YosemiteNationalPark,

rangers reopenedYosemite

Valley to day-use visitors

Tuesday morning, although

Highway 140, the ElPortal

Road, remainedclosedat the

park boundary because of a

rockslide blocking lanes in

both directions.

Chronicle staff writers Sarah Ravani

and Michael Bodley contributed to

this story.

Evan Sernoffsky, Peter Fimrite

and Steve Rubenstein are San

Francisco Chronicle staff writers.

Email: esernoffsky@

sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@

sfchronicle.com and

[email protected]

Twitter:@EvanSernoffsky,

@pfimrite, @Steve RubeSF

Harrison

Gulch

Harrison

Gulch

Pocket CanyonPocketCanyonCreekCreek

Green

Valley

Creek

Green

Valley

Creek

Hobson

Creek

Hobson

Creek

Fife

Smith Creek

Creek

Smith

Creek

Mission

Creek

Mission

Creek

MOSCOW RD.MOSCOW RD.

RIVRIVER RD.ERRD.

WESTSIDE RD.

RIV

ER

RD.

RIVER RD.

MIRABEL RD.MIRABEL RD.

MonteMonteRioRio

RioNido

KorbelKorbel

Rolands

Forest HillsForestHills

Noel HeightsNoelHeights

Santa NellaSantaNella

Guernewood

Park

Guernewood

Park

EdendaleEdendale

NortNorthwoodhwood

ForestvilleForestville

HaciendaHacienda

116

116

01

MILE

Guerneville

DutchBill

Creek

DutchBill

Creek

BOHEMIAN

HWY.

BOHEMIAN

HWY.

100-year flood zone Floodway

Russian River

FifeFife

CreekCreek

RolandsRolands

DE RDDE RD.

Pacific

Ocean

Santa

Rosa

Santa

Rosa

PetalumaPetaluma

Jenner

020

MILES

DD.

PacificPacific

OOceaOceann

DETAIL

0

10

20

30

40

50

FFAJJMMMFFDDFFDDJJDDFFF FFJJJJJJDDJJFFMMJJJJDDJJFFMMMJJFFFJJJFFMMDDFFJJJFFMDD

’40 ’42 ’44’45 ’48 ’50’51 ’54’55 ’58 ’60 ’62 ’64 ’66’68 ’70’71’74’76’78 ’80 ’81’83’86 ’88 ’90 ’92’94 ’96 ’98 ’00’02 ’04 ’06 ’08 ’10 ’12 ’

J=January

F=February

M=March

A=April

D=December

Floodstage: 32’

Historical river heights near Guerneville In feet

46.87’

49.6’ 48.56’ 48.01’

44.26’

Dec. 23, 1955

49.7’

Sources: USGS, Sonoma County, Permit and Resource Management GIS John Blanchard/The Chronicle

The Russian River is expected to rise to 38.4 feet at Guerneville on Wednesday night

Leah Millis /The Chronicle

Residents prepareto take a loaded pickup ac ross a floodedroad inGuerneville,where a 38.4-foot crest isexpectedWednesday.

Storm from page A

“Atmospheric rivers occur
every winter,it’s just a matter
of where they occur,” said
Ralph.“The last twoyears
they’ve been missing in Cali-
fornia.In the past three
monthswe’ve had a large num-
ber.”
On Tuesday, the much-
watchedNorthern Sierra
Eight-Station Precipitation
Inde x, which measures rainfall
between the Oregon border
and LakeTahoe, approached
42 inches, the mostever record-
ed at this point in the October-
through-Septemberwater year.
Meanwhile, snowpack, a
barometer of therunoff that
will fill reservoirs in spring
and summer,was at 135 percent
of normal for the date.
While thestate’ s Southland
has notfared aswell, northerly
precipitation remains the most
vital in the drought picture
becauseit feeds the big reser-
voirs thatsupply water across
the state.
California has beenstrug-
gling with dry conditions since

2011. Last winterwasn’t as bad,
      bringingabove-average snow
      and rain to the north amid an
      El Niño weather pattern, but
      water supplies have remained
      short.
      While thisyear’s wet weath-
      er has been a boon for reser-
      voirs, fi ve ye ars of drought
      forced many communities to
      rely heavily onaquifers, and
      undergroundsupplies in many

places are nowdepleted.

“We have not busted our

groundwater drought,” said

JeffreyMount, a senior fellow

at the PublicPolicy Inst itute of

California’sWater Policy Cen-

ter.

Since 30 percent of thestate’s

water supply comes from the

ground, and asmuchas 60

percentwhen surface supplies

dry up, Mount said California’s

aquifers need more time —

years, if notdecades — to re-

cover.

Other problems wrought by

the drought show little sign of

immediate improvement.

A massive die-off of dry,

beetle-infested trees continues

to plague the Sierra.Fish that

suffered fromyears ofover-

drawn rivers, some on the

brink of extinction, remain

without assurances of winning

back habitat. Dried-up soils

and farmland could alsogo a

long time without recovery.

There’s fear, too, that the

rainy season,which generally

runs from late October through

March, couldstill take a turn

for theworse. The water year

has started with a blockbuster

December before, only tostall

out the rest of winter.

The state’ s official drought

decl aration, issuedby Gov.

Jerry Brown inJanuary 2014,

has yet to be lifted.

The unprecedented ration-

ing thatwas mandated for

cities and towns, anddeep

water cuts forfarmers, have

been eased.But many of the

regulationsgoverningwater

deliveries remain.

“There are just some com-

munities that arestill strug-

gling,” saidMike Anderson,

the state climatologist with the

Department ofWater Resourc-

es.

Santa Barbara, for example,

watched one ofits main reser-

voirs, LakeCuchuma, miss out

on most of the recentstorms,

and the lake remains less than

a quarter full.

Other reservoirs, mostly in

Southern California, are also

yet to near capacity afteryears

of withdrawals outpacing in-

flows.

“Everybody has theirown

portfolio ofsupply options and

theirown portfolio ofde-

mands, andit’s really a matter

of figuring out how to balance

them in each of these areas,”

Anderson said. “We’re certain-

ly in a better place thanwe’ve

been.”

Kurtis Alexander is a San

Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.

com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

Drough tfrom page A

Brian L. Frank /Specialto The Chronicle

The Russian River at fl ood stag e in Guerneville onMonday.

The river was expectedto crest slightly higher onWednesday.