MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - Yuba Water Agency is preparing to release water from its spillway at New Bullards Bar Dam on the North Yuba River to make room for anticipated inflows and snowmelt expected from the incoming storm.

“Even though it’s been an extremely dry January, we had plenty of snow and rain in December to build up our snowpack in the Sierra and we expect this storm to be significant enough for us to make releases to maintain adequate flood storage space,” said John James, Yuba Water’s director of resource planning. “It’s important to note that, even though we’re operating the spillway, this is a normal part of our winter operations to manage flood risk downstream.”

Yuba Water is currently releasing full flow output from New Bullards Bar through its New Colgate Powerhouse facilities downstream. The agency anticipates ramping up releases from its spillway at the dam today and adjusting flows throughout the storm.

“As we know, storms are dynamic and can change by the hour, so we’ll keep a close eye on the forecast and real-time conditions and continue coordinating with our state and federal flood partners throughout the event and adjust our flows and operations accordingly,” James added.

Yuba Water only controls flows from New Bullards Bar on the North Yuba River. Changes in the lower Yuba River are also heavily influenced by flows from the Middle and South Yuba rivers, which are uncontrolled. Valley residents can expect to see higher river flows throughout the storm.

Yuba Water owns and operates New Bullards Bar Dam as part of a multipurpose flood risk reduction, water supply and hydropower project to benefit the people of Yuba County. The reservoir can store nearly one million acre-feet of water and is operated to maintain 170,000 acre-feet of dedicated flood storage during the storm season. The agency works closely with local, state and federal agencies, as well as forecasters, to coordinate releases during storms.