Category Archives: Wildlife

Events, Fish, Salmon, Wildlife

Salmon Discussion At Nimbus Hatchery Tuesday at 7PM.

A discussion on salmon fishing in the American River will be the final installment in the Nimbus Hatchery speaker series at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the hatchery’s Visitor’s Center, 2001 Nimbus Road, in Rancho Cordova.

Justin Cisneros, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife and an avid fisherman, will share tips for successful salmon fishing, including gear, locations and methods.

Department senior environmental scientists Rob Titus and Mike Healey will talk about the state of the salmon run in the American River and how the department is managing it. Wildlife officer Alan Weingarten will talk about salmon fishing regulations.

Questions from the audience are encouraged.

For more information, call (916) 358-2884.

Boating, Fish, safety, Water

Slow Down At Folsom Lake: Rocks Ahead

Put away those water skis because the speed limit on Folsom Lake is now 5 mph.

Beginning Tuesday, state parks officials lowered the speed limit to 5 mph because the drought has caused the reservoir to be so low that a fast-moving vessel or a skier could hit rocks.

The low water level has also left most boat ramps dry. Rattlesnake Bar, Granite Bay, Folsom Point and Peninsula boat ramps are all out of the water and closed to boat launching.

More at SacBee.com>>>
Boating, Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

California Drought: El Niño Chances Fall Again

Hopes of an almighty El Niño bringing rain to a drought-stricken California – with its fallow fields, depleted streams and parched lawns – were further dashed Thursday. The National Weather Service, in its monthly El Niño report, again downgraded the chances of the influential weather pattern occurring in the fall or winter.

The odds were 80 percent in May, but were placed between 60 and 65 percent this week.

Meanwhile, the agency also announced that the much-needed weather event is likely to be weak instead of moderate in strength – another retreat from the more robust projections made earlier this year that fueled speculation that California’s three-year dry spell might be snapped.

El Niños, defined by warming Pacific Ocean waters that release enough energy to shape worldwide weather, have been associated with wet winters in the Golden State. The strong 1997-98 event correlated with San Francisco’s biggest recorded rain year: a whopping 47.2 inches of rain.

But the correlation doesn’t always hold up. While El Niños carry the potential to bring quenching showers, this week’s climate report doesn’t necessarily doom the state to another year of drought.

More at SFGate.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, safety, Water, Wildlife

Bike Trail Riders Should Avoid Scene Of Grass Fire Along American River

Bicycle commuters were being asked to avoid the bike trail near Del Paso Boulevard Friday morning as Sacramento Fire Department crews mopped up a grass fire in the area.

The 2-alarm blaze broke out about 4:30 a.m. Friday near Del Paso Boulevard and the bike trail in brush, grass and trees. The dry conditions, heavy vegetation and a moderate morning breeze spread the fire into the canopy of the trees for a time.

More at SacBee.com >>>

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

Sac State Sustainability Adopts Parkway, Volunteer Efforts In Cleaning

The Sac State Sustainability team has added another project in effort to make the campus more environmentally aware, with the recent adoption of Mile 7 South of the American River Parkway.

The “Adopt a Parkway” program through the foundation allows organizations in the Sacramento area to “adopt” individual miles, becoming volunteer stewards of their adopted miles.

This includes clean-up efforts and monitoring the parkway for anything that needs attention from the American River Parkway Foundation, such as broken picnic tables, damage to the parkway itself or invasive plant species.

“This is a great relationship and we are incredibly happy to be partners with Sacramento State Sustainability,” said Meghan Toland, volunteer coordinator for the American River Parkway Foundation. “This will help all who use the parkway around Sacramento State, students and others who use the parkway for recreational use.”

Part of the agreement in becoming stewards is ensuring volunteer hours are met. At least 20 man hours must be completed per quarter. All trash bags, sign in sheets and volunteer resources are provided by the foundation.

According to Joey Martinez, Recycling and Sustainability Coordinator for Sacramento State, how and who completes 20 hours of required service is up to the volunteers.

“This can be 20 people committing one hour of their time or even 2 people committing 10 hours—as long as it adds up to 20 hours per quarter,” said Martinez.

For Sac State, this means faculty, students and staff will be able to have a hands-on experience in helping sustain the parkway that has become a staple for both the university and Sacramento.

“Mile 7 South has the potential to become a bigger part of the Sac State community in that it will allow for the members of said community to become more invested as its environmental stewards,” Toland said.

The campus population taking active steps in caring for the parkway is exactly what the American River Parkway Foundation looks for in volunteers,Toland said.

More at StateHornet.com >>>

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

Folsom Lake Spillway Keeps To Schedule, Budget

The approximately $900 million auxiliary spillway for Folsom Dam, which will increase the dam’s release capacity and reduce flood risk downstream, is “on time and on budget” for its scheduled October 2017 completion.

 Also on schedule are the first phase of the project’s control structure, scheduled to wrap up in the summer of 2015, and the second phase, set for completion in May 2017, said Katie Huff, a senior project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“Site restoration will begin in 2016-17,” she said.

The auxiliary spillway’s completion target is four years sooner than the original planned completion date of 2021 — and nearly $416 million below original cost projections.

Construction on the new dam, the control structure, began in May 2012. Crews have been working nearly around the clock, six days a week, to meet the completion deadline of mid-2015.

The third year of California drought hasn’t had an impact on construction of the auxiliary spillway. It’s essentially a second dam that will allow water to be released earlier and more safely from Folsom Lake during large storms.

Rather, with the extended dry conditions, “We’ve been able to do work in the ‘dry,’ instead of the ‘wet,’” said Huff, who lives in El Dorado Hills.

The Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, California’s Central Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Flood Control Agency are working together to build the auxiliary spillway to increase its release capacity and reduce flood risk downstream.

More at AuburnJournal.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, Rafting, safety, Wildlife

Sacramento County Limits Smoking And Barbecue Grills At Parks

Sacramento County supervisors imposed emergency restrictions Tuesday on smoking along the American River Parkway and barbecuing in all county parks, citing increased fire risks from the ongoing drought.

Smoking will no longer be permitted in nature areas and unpaved trails along the 23-mile American River Parkway. At all county parks, including the parkway, barbecue cookers will be limited to designated picnic areas or beaches, depending on the type of fuel used.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the two ordinances after county parks have experienced 30 fires so far this year, including a 160-acre blaze along the parkway that delayed a Fourth of July celebration at Cal Expo and forced postponement of a Sacramento Republic FC soccer game. Fire officials believe most of the fires are due to human activity.

“The parks facilities continue to become drier and increase our fire risk,” said Sacramento County regional parks director Jeff Leatherman. “This would prevent people from walking to an open space and setting up a barbecue.”

The new rules take effect immediately and come just before the Labor Day holiday, when many Sacramentans are expected to hit county parks for barbecues and parties.

“To me, this is a matter of common sense,” said Supervisor Phil Serna, whose district includes a large swath of the parkway.

Violators can expect to pay a fine of $50 and court fees for the first infraction. Repeated offenses can cost up to $100. Leatherman said rangers will seek to educate before issuing citations.

The drought conditions, along with the dry brush, are creating an environment where fires can grow out of control very quickly. The American River Parkway has borne the brunt of the flames – accounting for 29 of the 30 fires in the county parks system so far. In 2013, the parkway was the site of 64 fires.

Four of the blazes this year were classified as “major” by the Sacramento Fire Department, consuming a total of 235 acres, according to Roberto Padilla, a department spokesman.

Fire officials have been unable to pinpoint the precise cause for most of the blazes, but Padilla said, “these fires are human caused … what we cannot determine is if they are accidental or arson.”

American River Parkway visitors can still smoke on paved trails, levee tops, golf courses and picnic areas.

More at SacBee.com >>>
Bike Trail, Boating, Fish, safety, Water, Wildlife

Drought Raises Pollution On Folsom Dam Spillway Project This Year

Low water levels at Folsom Lake are causing an increase in air pollution from the $900 million Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway project.

The lake is filled to just 40 percent of capacity, which has allowed construction to proceed without the use of marine excavation equipment this year. The land equipment used instead has emitted more nitrogen oxide, said Katie Huff, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps is working with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation on the project.

Nitrogen oxide is formed by fuel combustion of automobiles, trucks and non-road vehicles like construction equipment.

Studies have linked short-term nitrogen oxide exposure, ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours, with adverse respiratory effects, including airway inflammation in healthy people and increased respiratory symptoms in people with asthma.

Increased construction this year will cause the project to exceed federal threshold guidelines for nitrogen oxide emissions.

The annual federal threshold for such emissions is 25 tons per year. In 2014, the Folsom Dam Project is expected to emit 31.2 tons.

More at SanLuisObisbo.com >>>

 

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

American River Water Flows Cut In Half Due To Hatchery Work

Users of the lower American River will notice a significant drop in the water flow over the next few days as workers at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery complete annual work on the fish weir.

At 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, hatchery workers began installing metal pipes that block fish from proceeding any further up river from the hatchery.

The weir is designed to divert fish into the Nimbus Fish Hatchery during the fall run.

To complete the work, crews have to enter the river at the base of the weir.

Water flowing out of the Nimbus Dam was cut overnight from 1,500 cubic feet per second to 800 to make conditions safer for workers.

The Bureau of Reclamation advised anyone using the river to expect water level fluctuations of as much as eight inches along the shore line during the work.

More at KCRA.com >>>

Fish, History, Rafting, safety, Water, Wildlife

American River Metal Debris Study Details Cleanup Costs

Just what to do with hundreds of tons of metal left in the American River after a 1964 bridge washout is still an open question.

But a new report commissioned by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy now has a cleanup plan and an estimated price tag on the work.

The debris from the Highway 49 bridge washout 50 years ago rests downstream from the current Highway 49 bridge – with twisted steel just under the surface of low summer river flows and huge chunks of broken concrete sitting above the shoreline.

Report author David Burns, who is part of a renewed effort to remove dangerous debris from the river, said that while the question of who will pay for the work goes unanswered, the estimated cost to remove all the steel now in the Highway 49 debris field would be about $775,000.

More at AuburnJournal.com >>>