The Big Bear Municipal Water District released water from Big Bear Lake Tuesday, part of the first effort in 15 years to reduce the amount of water from the reservoir.
The water district released water from the lake's flood gates Dec. 22 - the day a major rainstorm flooded neighborhoods in San Bernardino and Highland and washed out sections of Highway 330.
Since then, there have been several major releases from the dam because the amount of water is starting to exceed the lake's capacity.
"We can't handle any more water," said Don McKernan, director of marketing and public relations for the Big Bear Lake Resort Association. "(The lake) is filled to the brim."
Both recent heavy rainfall and melting snow in the mountains have kept the lake full for the first time since 1996. The lake's maximum water depth is 73 feet. The depth Monday was 72 feet, 3 inches, according to an association news release.
Water district officials expect melting snow to continue to flow into the lake through May, making it necessary to release more water from the lake's dam.
Keeping the lake full of fresh, clean water helps improve its quality and clarity, said Mike Stephenson, lake manager for the water district.
"We've certainly put in some nice, clean, aerated water and released some old, not-so-clean, not-so-aerated water," he said.
In October 2004, the water level in Big Bear Lake was down more than 17 inches, Stephenson
said. The water quality was bad, docks dried up and the lake's aesthetic quality took a dive.
The high water level is good for the fish, he said.
"When the quality of water is up, the fish grow faster and just do better, Stephenson said "It's going to be a great year for fishing at Big Bear Lake."
And Big Bear Lake isn't the only lake in the San Bernardino Mountains to have to release water.
Jim Grant, lake manager for the Arrowhead Lake Association, said Lake Arrowhead has also been at capacity since late December.
"We opened the gates for 24 hours (Monday) because we were 5 inches over full," he said. "We closed the gates this morning and we're still 2 inches over full, but that's going over our spillways.
"It's a very good thing."
The rest of the state has also experienced a water surplus, so much so that Gov. Jerry Brown declared an end March 30 to California's three-year drought.
Most of the state's major reservoirs are above normal storage levels for the date, according to the Department of Water Resources.
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