LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. (KERO) — The water level at Lake Isabella continues to rise, with water officials already looking ahead to next winter.
The lake is approaching 526,000 acre-feet, with the maximum capacity sitting at 568,000. According to Kern River Water Master Mark Mulkay, the reduced outflow from the lake will continue at around 4,500 cubic feet per second. At the height of the runoff earlier this year, the outflow flirted with 8,000 but never went over.
In April, the Department of Water Resources said that the release was slated to happen over an extended period of time to avoid larger releases that could threaten channel capacity downstream.
Officials are also looking ahead to Wed, Nov 1. That is a target date for when water release will have to ramp up in order to make room for the Sierra snowpack next winter.
