Category Archives: Wildlife

Boating, Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

‘Above average’ rain to trigger more water releases from Folsom Dam

“It looks like the storm door is opening,” California Department of Water Resources Chief Hydrologist Maury Roos said.

The storms are expected to help increase California’s water supply.

“If the forecasts are right, we’ll get above average precipitation for the month of March,” Roos explained.

That’s good news, especially for the Sierra where yesterday’s survey in Phillips, California revealed snowpack levels are at just 85 percent of average for this time of year.

“Obviously, El Niño is not living up to expectations,” Water Resources Snow Survey Chief Frank Gehrke said.

But the prospect of more snow in the Sierra could mean more snowmelt into the American River, leading to higher water levels at Folsom Lake. That’s why the Federal Bureau of Reclamation is looking to make adjustments for the release of water from Folsom Dam.

“Based on this being a widespread storm, we do expect some increased runoff,” the Bureau’s spokesperson Louis Moore said.

The Bureau is anticipating additional releases from Folsom Dam in the days ahead.

More at KCRA.com >>>

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

Residents Caught Off Guard by Increased Flows into American River

The American River looked very different Tuesday – higher and faster than the days prior – because of increased flows from the Folsom and Nimbus dams.

Some along the river think the sudden, higher, faster combination could be trouble.

“The water is moving faster, there are drop offs, the bottom of that river is not even,” angler Rich Dyba said. “Unless you really know the area and you know where you can wade, it can be real dangerous real quick.”

The Bureau of Reclamation says the releases, which haven’t seen this level since 2012, are necessary.

“Right now, we are releasing 7,000 cubic feet per second of water down the lower American River. That’s about twice what we were releasing about this time yesterday,” bureau spokesperson Shane Hunt said.

More at Fox40.com >>>

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Warm temperatures bring snow melt to Sierra

The snow melt created a spectacular water shower on Sunday at Bridal Falls, along Highway 50 in the Sierra, where several travelers stopped to watch the falls.

“We were almost over there and we saw it . My husband said ‘Let’s stop.’ We even almost hit a car,” said Vriseida Contreras of San Jose.

By midday Sunday, Bridal Falls was a virtual tourist trap.

“I like this place because it’s a beautiful place,” Anilya Medvedev said.

For people like Charlotte Bauer, the journey to Bridal Falls brought back many good memories.

“My husband and I used to drive by here for many years and it was often a place we stopped,” she said. “And it’s just very beautiful today.”

Bay Area traveler Martha Chavez was quick to agree.

“It’s very beautiful and we don’t seen this often in San Jose, so we had to stop,” she said.

Traveling higher in the Sierras, at the 5,000-foot mark, the road to Wrights Lake was nearly devoid of snow. This a sharp contrast from the heavy snowpack that was there just three weeks ago before the snow began to melt.

Near Kyburz, travelers could see whitewater rapids along the south fork of the American River.

Yet, with the calendar reading mid-February and not April, it was a reminder of the need for more snowpack in the months ahead.

More at KCRA.com >>>

Boating, Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Folsom Lake increases water outflow despite CA drought

Folsom Lake is nearly doubling the amount of water it lets out through its dam as water officials look to make room for the above average Sierra snowpack and future storms.

The lake is currently at 116 percent of its historical average for this time of year and is 61 percent full.

Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages Folsom Lake levels, worry too much water could cause a safety issue that could lead to flooding downriver.

In December, the lake reached an all-time low. Since then, it’s added more than four times as much water.

“We can’t hold onto all of it,” said Shane Hunt, a Bureau of Reclamation Public Affairs Officer. “We’re going to see more inflows come in than the reservoir can take, even if it doesn’t rain anymore, just from the snowpack. You can’t hold on to every drop.”

The outflow on Tuesday night increased from 1,750 to 3,000 cubic feet per second.

More at KCRA.com >>>

Boating, Events, Fish, History, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Folsom Lake level reaches important milestone

Sunday Jan. 31 will be remembered as the day Folsom Lake recovered.

In less than two months, Folsom Lake has gone from the lowest level in its 60-year history to above average for this time of year.

According to preliminary data from the California Department of Water Resources, Folsom Lake rose from below average to above average sometime between 4 and 5 a.m. Sunday.

As of 5 a.m., Folsom Lake held 507,193 acre feet (AF) of water. The average for Jan. 31 is 506,849 AF.

An acre foot of water will supply the average household for a year.

On Sunday morning, the lake level stood at 418 feet above sea level, roughly 70 feet higher than when it bottomed out on Dec. 4 with just 135,561 AF.

Like it or not, Folsom Lake will likely soon shift roles from water storage to flood control.

More at News10.net >>>

Boating, Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Speed restrictions dropped as Folsom Lake levels rise

Folsom Lake surpassed the 400-foot elevation mark Monday, allowing park rangers to drop the 5 mph speed limit at the popular boating area.

The reservoir was sitting at 403 feet as of 3 a.m. Tuesday and continued to rise as runoff from recent storms poured down the North, Middle and South Forks of the American River.

For the past week, the lake was rising an average of two feet per day, according to the California Data Exchange.

The 5 mph speed limit was implemented on July 13 when the lake dropped below 400 feet, cutting the summer recreation season short.

More at KCRA.com >>>

Bike Trail, Boating, Fish, Rafting, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Thanks El Niño! 44-foot rise of Folsom Lake offers hope for California’s worst ever drought

California lake levels are rising as fast as the stock market is falling, with Folsom Lake east of Sacramento rising an astonishing 44 feet in just over a month and Lake Oroville, the second most expansive water storage facility in the state rising another 20 feet.

Early December saw Folsom Lake, just off Highway 50 on the way up to South Lake Tahoe, dwindle to the hydrological equivalent of a mud puddle.

It reached its lowest levels since they started filling it up after building the dam of around 349 feet above sea level.

Today, it has risen over 44 feet to just under 393 feet above sea level.

More at SFGate.com >>>

Boating, Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Drought-ravaged Folsom Lake rises 28.5 feet in just one month

 

Water-starved Folsom Lake is beginning to slowly fill up and recover from its lowest water levels ever.

The state’s ninth-largest reservoir, the main water source for the sprawling Sacramento suburbs, shrank to a mere 135,561 acre feet on Dec. 4, 2015. The previous lowest level at Folsom was 140,600 acre feet, recorded during the 1976–77 drought. An acre foot is enough water to flood an acre of land under a foot of water, and roughly the amount required by a family of four over a year.

With the recent rains, Folsom’s water level has risen 28.5 feet and the reservoir is now holding 246,497 acre feet of water.
“The lake continues to slowly rise,” Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento, said in an interview. “While this current storm isn’t dropping a lot of rain on Folsom, we’re getting runoff from the Sierra from past storms and some snow melt.”

The Central Sierra snow pack is at 107 percent of average and the American River, which feeds into Folsom, travels through these mountains.

That said, Swanberg adds the lake is still only at 25 percent capacity. “It’s kind of a good news, bad news situation,” he said. “The lake has risen 28.5 feet in the past month. However it’s still at 51 percent of average for this time of year.”

More at SFGate.com >>>

Boating, Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Folsom Lake rises 12+ feet in 2 days

The wet weather this week in northern California left many Christmas travelers worried, and water experts smiling. Folsom Lake has gone up nearly 13 feet in just two days.

According to measurements from the California Bureau of Reclamation, the lake, which serves as a water source for many Sacramento-area neighborhoods, rose 12.6 feet.

There is similar good news from the Department of Water Resources, whose graph shows a sharp spike from this week’s storm. According to their measurements, Folsom Lake’s storage went from 16 percent of capacity on Monday to 19 percent capacity Wednesday.

More at ABC10.com >>>

Events, Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Salmon Move Into Nimbus Hatchery

Nimbus Fish Hatchery workers have counted a total of 2,765 fall-run Chinook salmon, including 789 jacks and jills (two-year-old fish), at the facility since the salmon ladder opened Monday, Nov. 2

Considering the low flows of 500 cfs, this return is surprisingly good. Last year at this time the hatchery staff had counted approximately 2950 salmon, including 350 adults.

The other good news is that the water temperature on the river has cooled down 5 to 7 degrees over one week.

“The water temperature has gone down to 55 to 57 degrees, depending on which gauge you go by,” said Gary Novak, hatchery manager. “That’s phenomenal; last year the water temperature didn’t cool down to this temperature until the middle of November.”

The hatchery has spawned salmon three times to date. Novak noted that many of the fish at the facility are still “green,” not ready for spawning yet.

The 300,000 juvenile steelhead that will be released into the river system next February have also returned to the hatchery, after spending the summer at the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville, due to high water temperatures at Nimbus.

A record low number of Central Valley steelhead, listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, returned to the American River in January, February and March of 2015 and December of 2014. Only 143 adult steelhead returned to Nimbus Fish Hatchery during this time. In good years, the hatchery has trapped between 2000 and 4000 adult steelhead.

More at IndyBay.org >>>