As another atmospheric river approaches Northern California, local agencies have begun conducting releases from spillways to make room for more water.

It's been 29 years since the 1997 New Year's flood in Yuba County. Since then, there have been major improvements in modernizing the levees and flood risk management. Part of that work includes releasing water in anticipation of storms, which is exactly what the Yuba Water Agency is doing right now.

"Whatever they have to do to keep us safe. Got to make room for the next wave of water coming down," said William Harmon, who lives in Marysville.

On New Year's Day, Yuba Water started releasing water from New Bullards Bar Dam and reservoir.

"We use all this information, both real-time and forecasts, to determine how much water we should release and when we should," said Sami Nall, flood risk manager with Yuba Water Agency.

Yuba Water has been partnering with UC San Diego's Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes for atmospheric river research and for moments just like this.

"We release weather balloons during storm events so we are better able to increase the accuracy of our models for future storms," said Nall.

Initially, the agency anticipated releasing up to 17,000 cubic feet of water per second, but since the releases depend largely on the forecasts, everything can change day to day. And this incoming storm has been scaled back a bit, so they're anticipating about 12,000 cubic feet per second to be released at its peak.

"We do anticipate river levels to rise," said Nall. "As I mentioned, the forecasts are trending downwards as of this morning. It doesn't mean it won't change, but we are monitoring it. But we don't expect them to rise to a level where there needs to be action along the levee system."

Yuba Water says crews are out keeping watch along the levees, but that they're holding strong so far.

The New Year's flood of '97 killed three people and caused nearly $2 billion in damages.

"It's held up all these years, and now they've done extra work to it, so we're just crossing our fingers like we do every time," said Harmon.

Officials warn the latest reservoir release will bring cold, fast-moving water along the levees. Yuba Water is coordinating with other agencies, including at the Oroville Dam, to prevent downstream waterways from being overwhelmed by releases.

"Public safety is one of our primary motivators for when and how much we release water out of bullards," said Nall.

The general public is encouraged to keep an eye out for flooding, erosion or anything that might look out of the ordinary as this storm moves in. It's also so important to keep in mind the high waters if you want to fish or recreate. Turn around, don't drown.