One of the great debates (at least among water issues) over the last few decades has been the value of water storage. Do we build more storage, re-operate existing facilities, or do we take down existing dams? Well, this winter is proving to be a very good reason why we have storage in California and in certain places would benefit from more. Here is what I mean; December of last year brought a torrent of both rain and snow to California with much of that water simply running off the hills and into the creeks, streams and rivers and through the Delta out to the ocean. While we need water flowing through the Delta to maintain water quality, it is those storm flows that create an opportunity to even out the winter peaks (and valleys) with the summer (very dry) valleys.