Bike Trail, Events, Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Auburn State Recreation Area cleanup tackles trashed canyon sites

Hundreds of volunteers will be taking out the trash in the American River Canyon on Saturday.

The Earth Week cleanup brings volunteers together with several organizations in a major annual spring effort to remove litter and spruce up the canyon near Auburn.

Eric Peach, a Protect American River Canyons (PARC) board member, said Thursday that volunteers will fan out along both the middle and north forks of the American River from the confluence near the city to not only collect discarded garbage.

“Work will also include minor trail maintenance, removal of invasive non-native plant species and graffiti removal,” Peach said.

The Auburn-based PARC will be working with the California State Parks Foundation, which is holding its 15th annual Earth Day restoration and cleanup around the state. Among the projects are cleanups at both the Auburn State Recreation Area in Placer County and at the Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park in Folsom.

More at AuburnJournal.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, safety, Water, Wildlife

Sacramento Area Creeks Council expects random trash trophies in annual cleanup

A lawn Santa, a blow dart, a wig, a flat-screen TV and a rocking horse are some of the dubious trophies volunteers have hauled out of Sacramento-area creeks during annual cleanups.

The Sacramento Area Creeks Council spotlights each year’s quirkiest finds to call attention to human activities that are harmful to dozens of urban creeks and their tributaries. The perils to creeks include roadside litter, illegal dumping, invasive plants and development- related storm runoff.

The 22nd annual Creek Week will get under way today with a Splash Off from 11 a.m. to noon at the William Pond Recreation Area on the American River. The big event will take place April 14, when about 2,000 volunteers will fan out across the county to remove trash from waterways.

More at The Modest Bee >>>

Bike Trail, safety, Water

Woman hospitalized, man in police custody after rescue at water treatment plant

One person has been taken to the hospital and another is in police custody after they entered a Sacramento water treatment plant and became trapped.

Assistant Chief Niko King of the Sacramento Fire Department said firefighters were called to the Fairbairn Water Treatment Plant on the American River at 8:08 p.m., after a passerby on the levee reported hearing someone yelling near the plant’s pumphouse. Firefigters initially thought someone was in the river and were preparing for a water rescue. They discovered, however, that the cries were coming from inside the five- or six-story concrete building, which sits in the river and is accessed from the levee via a footbridge.

Inside, firefighters found a man and woman, who appeared to be in their late 20s or early 30s. King said he did not know how the two, who were not authorized to be on the property, entered the site. They told firefighters that they had walked down several stories when the woman accidentally fell into a pool of water. The man jumped in to try to help her climb out

More at SacBee.com

Bike Trail, safety, Wildlife

Detours to begin Thursday for parkway bike trail repairs

A detour will be in place for a one-mile section of the American River Parkway Bike Trail beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday to allow for trail repairs.

The detour, between the mile markers 2.5 and 3.5, will take trail users up on the adjacent levee, according to a Sacramento Regional Parks news release. Officials said work is necessary to repair damage to areas of the trail undermined by beavers.

The trail will be open through the repair site during the weekend. The closure and detour will resume Monday and continue during the week until repairs are completed.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

State Water Project allocation is slashed

The California Department of Water Resources has reduced its estimate of the amount of water the State Water Project will deliver this year.

DWR on Wednesday dropped its projected delivery total, or allocation, from 60 percent to 50 percent of the requested amount of slightly more than 4 million acre-feet.

‘’Stubbornly dry conditions this winter give us no choice but to roll back our water supply estimate,” says DWR Director Mark Cowin. “We continue to hope, however, that wetter conditions in the remaining winter weeks will allow us to boost deliveries back up.”

DWR says that precipitation so far this winter has been only about half of normal and the mountain snowpack is less than a third of normal.

Water Year (Oct. 1-Sept. 30) runoff from rain and snow is forecasted to be far below average in both the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River systems. The median runoff forecast of 9.4 million acre-feet for the Sacramento River system would be the 16th driest in 106 years.

The February 1 median water year runoff forecast of 3.2 million acre-feet for the San Joaquin River system would be the 21st driest in 111 years.

Average runoff is 18.3 million acre-feet for the Sacramento system, and 5.9 million acre-feet for the San Joaquin.

Much of California’s water comes from the mountainous country from Shasta Lake in the north to the American River basin in the south. DWR’s eight precipitation gages covering this area recorded an impressive 130 percent of average rainfall and snow in October, but only 43 percent in November, 4 percent of average in December, 84 percent of average in January, and 18 percent of a normal February total to date this month. Overall, this “Eight-Station Index” area to date is at 51percent of its seasonal precipitation average. Records go back to 1920.

More at CentralValleyBusinessTimes.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fish, Rafting, safety, Water, Wildlife

Federal Partnership Helps State Parks; 25-Year Agreement Signed

State and local officials gathered in Auburn on Tuesday morning to celebrate the signing of the new Managing Partner Agreement for the Folsom and Auburn State Recreation Areas.

The agreement is between the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the State Parks Department for the next 25 years.

It means that state parks will continue to manage the Folsom and Auburn State Recreation Areas. These areas consist of Folsom Lake, Lake Natoma and the Auburn Project Lands, including Lake Clementine.

The area covered represents 50,000 acres of land and waterways.

More at KCRA.com >>>
Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Lack of rainfall signals driest season since 1976-77

The water-supply picture for Placer County is growing grimmer.

While a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. official has briefed the Placer County Water Agency’s board about conditions that could signal one of the driest years since records have been kept, water providers remain hopeful that precipitation to replenish reservoirs will provide a March – or even April – miracle.

Dave Ward, PG&E partnership coordinator, said that as of Thursday, seasonal precipitation across the Sierra Nevada was 42.6 percent of average. Seasonal precipitation is measured between July 1 and June 30.

“This year is barely above 1976-77,” Ward said. “If the current pattern continues, it could be the sixth or seventh driest year in 117 years of record-keeping.”

PG&E is also currently projecting that less than half of normal runoff will occur on the Yuba River and American River watersheds. As the season continues and warmer weather moves in, there will be less opportunity for snowpack to build up water reserves.

More at AuburnJournal.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, safety

Arrest made in killing of burned woman at Discovery Park

An arrest has been made in the killing of a woman whose burned body was found Tuesday in Discovery Park.

Sacramento police said today they have arrested Robert Thompson, 36, on suspicion of homicide in the killing of the still-unidentified female.

It will take several days to make a positive identification of the severely burned body that was found by a passing bicyclist. Police say the body was burned beyond recognition.

Race and age are not known, police said. While the cause of death has yet to be determined, the woman suffered upper body trauma, according to a press release from the police department.

Police said that since the woman has not been identified, they cannot yet release the relationship between the victim and Thompson.

More at SacBee.com >>>