Influence of late season precipitation on runoff of the Kings River

In the King’s River basin of the southern Sierra Nevadas, late-season, high-elevation storms are important factors in the hydrology of the area. Numerous occurrences producing from a few hundred to perhaps 10,000 acre feet or more may be expected to occur almost every year. In aggregate they may represent from five to twenty percent of the total runoff in the May-September period. While the supplemental water produced by late season precipitation cannot be accurately forecast, accurate knowledge of the quantity and timing of such supplemental flow would be valuable to the water manager. Recent studies involving weather modification during the May-September period suggest that perhaps substantial augmentation of runoff from late season storms may be a possibility.