High lake levels have led to flooding in some campground areas at Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville, Calif., pictured here on Saturday, April 2, 2011. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Saturday morning, after more than a week of flood warnings, Clear Lake's waters receded back to below flood stage.

The lake's waters went below the flood stage mark, 9 feet Rumsey, early Saturday. By the end of the day the level had gone down to 8.92 feet Rumsey, with the Cache Creek Dam releasing at 3,340 cubic feet per second, according to the US Geological Survey.

The National Weather Service subsequently ended its flood warning, which had been in effect since last week, with Lake County the only area in the state to be under such a warning during the last few days.

The Rumsey gauge is the special measure used to determine Clear Lake's depth. Lake County Water Resources said it's based on the natural lake level maintained by the Grigsby Riffle, a rock sill located at the confluence of Cache and Seigler Creeks near Lower Lake.

Last Friday, the lake had gone into flood stage for the first time since 1998, according to Water Resources officials.

The lake peaked at 9.37 feet Rumsey on Monday and then began its decline, which during the last several days was aided by no rain, warm spring days and continued high releases from the Cache Creek Dam.

The dam was built in 1914, and since then it has been used to manipulate the lake level, according to Water Resources.

Over the 97 years since the dam was built, only 15 of those years have seen the lake above 9 feet on the Rumsey gauge, according to US Geological Survey records on Clear Lake.

Besides 2011, the records show those years in which the lake was in flood stage include 1914, 1915, 1927, 1938, 1942, 1956, 1958, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1995 and 1998.

Lake County News correspondent Ed Oswalt contributed research on lake levels for this story.

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