As we begin water year 2018, our reservoirs are in good shape. After a drought-busting water year, most of California’s major reservoirs are storing more than their historical averages for this time of year, and slightly more than 50 percent of their total capacity.

Predicting the arrival and intensity of atmospheric rivers would greatly benefit water managers, reservoir operators, and flood prevention agencies in their work to sustainably manage water supply and protect people and property from flood damage. The trouble is, weather forecasting beyond a week becomes unreliable.

On November 1, we met our objective to repair and reconstruct the main Lake Oroville spillway to handle flows of up to 100,000 cubic feet per second.