Update, 3:05 p.m.: Don Pedro Reservoir spillway gates open; flow expected in Modesto Tuesday

Update, 3:05 p.m. The spillway gets have opened. The water flow is expected to reach Modesto in 23 hours, or about 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Modesto Police Department are going door-to-door near Dry Creek delivering letters to residents there warning them of potential – potential – flooding.

Also, the Hickman Road Bridge near Waterford will now close sometime today. Officials moved up the closure after the Turlock Irrigation District announced early this morning it would open the spillways.

Notices delivered to residents in the Dry Creek & S. Modesto areas who may become affected by the water increase. Safety tips forthcoming. pic.twitter.com/8xJFuXDqO1

— Modesto Police Dept (@ModestoPolice) February 20, 2017

Update, 2:30 p.m: Our Patty Guerra will attempt to go on Facebook Live as the spillway gates open. The connection is a little sketchy so please be patient. It’s very windy at the area. In the meantime, here is a video from the Turlock Irrigation District’s Calvin Curtain explaining how they open the gates.

Guerra reports that there are about 20 or so people at the Big Oaks Recreation Area, which is just north of the spillway. There's no view, but people are curious.

There is no boating allowed today. But, Guerra did say there was at least one person camping.

Here is Patty’s first Facebook Live from Don Pedro.

Update, 1:20 p.m: The Don Pedro Reservoir spillway gates will open at 3 p.m. on Monday and remain open for four days, according to Turlock Irrigation District officials.

However, as reported by The Bee earlier, they said the release of water will not be to the extent of the release in 1997, which cause widespread flooding throughout the area.

The anticipated flow from this week’s release at Modesto’s station near Ninth Street will reach between 18,000 and 30,000 cubic feet per second. In 1997, CFS at the Modesto station reached 60,000 CFS The river at that spot could rise anywhere from 60 to 65 feet. In 1997, the river’s elevation above sea level reached 71.2 inches.

The initial flood stage is 55 feet.

At this point, there have been no mandatory evacuations announced. There have been some voluntary evacuations as a precaution.

The TID, and to some extent, the Modesto Irrigation District, have started to turn off power to some customers – homes, businesses and other services. The outages will begin from the east and move west as the water moves west.

We’ll have more on this story a little later.

Update, 1 p.m: Turlock Irrigation District press conference.

Update, 12:25 p.m.: Waterford residents are being advised about possible power outages due to the impending opening of the Don Pedro Reservoir spillway.

Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department deputies with the Mobile Field Force are going door-to-door alerting residents.

The sheriff’s department said in anticipation of the gates opening that TID will begin to “de-energize power lines along the Tuolumne River channel” at about 10 a.m. Monday. It said 978 TID electrical services along the river from La Grange to the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers will lose power.

The process will take about 18 hours, so not all of the services will lose power at one time, the sheriff’s department said.

The Stanislaus County Office of Emergeny Services has notified the affected residents through www.stanaware.com of the intended power outages.

We hope to have more on the specifics of the outages after the 1 p.m. press briefing.

11 a.m. Update: The Turlock Irrigation District announced Monday morning that it will open the controlled spillway gates at Don Pedro Reservoir at 3 p.m. Monday.

Though the flooding of 1997 is weighing heavy on many people’s minds, the anticipated flow on the Tuolumne River should be “nowhere near that,” a TID spokesman said Monday morning.

There is a press conference today at 1 p.m., when more information will be released.

TID was working closely with the National Weather Service on Monday morning to gain the best information on inflow to the reservoir and anticipate precipitation before making the announcement, district spokesman Herb Smart said.

He said based on inflow and precipitation numbers, the water coming down the Tuolumne will be “a grand level less” than that of 1997.

Once spillway gates open, the flow takes about 23 hours to reach Ninth Street in Modesto, Smart said.

The weather service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service shows the Tuolumne was at 54.86 feet at 9:30 Monday morning. Flood stage is 55 feet. Flow was 10,700 cubic feet per second.

The prediction is that the river would hit 55 feet at 3 a.m. Tuesday, with a flow of 10,800 cfs, and peak at 62.10 feet by 8 p.m. Tuesday, with a flow of 22,600 cfs.

According to records, as much as 55,800 cfs gushed from Don Pedro in 1997, raising the Tuolumne River in Modesto to more than 70 feet.

At 10:30 a.m. Monday, the water surface elevation at Don Pedro was 825.79 feet. TID reports it is required to open the spillway when Don Pedro reaches 830 elevation.

This story was originally published February 20, 2017 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Update, 3:05 p.m.: Don Pedro Reservoir spillway gates open; flow expected in Modesto Tuesday."