California has banned all fishing on a section of the American River near Folsom to help protect fish populations.

The concern is there is not enough water for them to migrate and spawn.

The emergency regulations went into effect this week, complete with signs up-and-down the river.

Some fishermen said they saw the signs and turned around, but not everyone is playing by the rules.

“We were actually next to a couple,” American River visitor Janel Halteh said.  “We actually saw them. There was a big fish that they had caught.”

More at NBCSanDiego.com >>>

Federico Barajas is keeping a close eye on water levels on Folsom Lake.

“We continue to hope for the best, but plan for the worst under the circumstances and the drought we are in today,” he said.

That’s why the man who oversees water deliveries at Folsom Dam is keeping a close eye on Folsom Lake. It provides water for Folsom, Roseville and Granite Bay.

“That is a very critical water supply delivery that we have, given that the cities surrounding this facility rely upon that water,” he said.

If the lake level, which is at historic lows, drops close to the intake valve at 320 feet, water from the lake can’t get into the tubes to be pumped to people who need it.

Before the last big rain earlier this month, Folsom Lake got as low as 355 feet, getting dangerously close to the 320-foot level of the intake, where the intake would suck air instead of water.

More at CBSLocal.com >>>

Right now, Folsom Lake’s water levels are at historic lows because of a third consecutive dry winter. But federal officials say in the future, when we get way too much rain and snow, the reservoir won’t be able to hold all the water. That’s why the dam needs to be raised by 3.5 feet.

Specifically, the plan calls for raising all of the dykes, the Mormon Island Auxiliary Dam and the right and left wings of the main dam. It’s a long term project and construction wouldn’t start for another two years.

In a separate project, Folsom Dam is getting new flood-control gates designed to release water quicker during a flood. The steel gates were built in Oregon and are scheduled to arrive later this month.

The meeting on the dam raise project will be held Wednesday from 5 to 7 PM at the Folsom Community Center.

From CapRadio.org >>>

Folsom Lake continues to rise as creeks and rivers flowing into the reservoir surge with runoff after days of rainfall.

After six years of construction, a momentous event is expected later this month at the new flood-control spillway being built at Folsom Dam: The steel flood-control gates – the mechanical heart of the project – will begin to arrive for installation.

This event will be hard to miss, because the gates are so large that 600 miles of roadway between Folsom and Portland, Ore., will have to be closed – in legs – as they make their way south. The journey will require 18 separate shipments.

The billion-dollar project at Folsom Dam, funded mostly by federal taxpayers, is intended to double the dam’s flood-protection rating to shield the Sacramento region from the biggest storms on the American River. In a drought year as bad as this one, it may be hard to imagine the need for this capacity. But it hasn’t been that long since the current dam’s limits were revealed. In 1986, the reservoir overfilled and flood-control officials were briefly forced to release more water than downstream levees were rated to withstand. Sacramento narrowly avoided disaster.

Although construction has been underway since 2008, most of the work has gone unnoticed except to residents near the project site and regular visitors to the lake. The delivery of the gates will change that, because it will require extended road closures throughout the region.

There are six main gates in the new spillway, designed to release water earlier and faster during a flood. Each assembled steel gate is about 40 feet long, 45 feet tall and 30 feet wide.

Imagine 12 school buses strapped together in a cube, three wide and four high, and you begin to get an idea of the challenges involved in transporting each gate.

“It’ll be pretty interesting, pretty spectacular, for them to be moving something this large down from Oregon,” said Rick Johnson, executive director of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, which is funding the local share of the project through property taxes. “I anticipate it’ll be similar logistics to moving the space shuttle.”

The primary contractor on this phase of the spillway project is Granite Construction Co. of Watsonville, which holds a $125 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the gate-control structure. This massive structure is equivalent to building a whole new dam. It is as tall as the Statue of Liberty and requires enough steel to build two-and-a-half Eiffel Towers.

The steel gates were fabricated at Oregon Iron Works in Clackamas under a separate $45 million contract. The first road shipment will be made this month. The exact timing of the deliveries isn’t known yet, but the contractors are working with Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and local governments on the details. They plan to alert residents through the news media when the shipments occur.

There are actually two gates for each of the six openings in the new spillway. The primary gate, called a tainter gate, rotates in an arc to control water releases into the new spillway. These gates are exposed to water pressure from the reservoir at all times. The secondary structure, called a bulkhead gate, is installed just upstream of the tainter gates. It is a flat panel that is lowered into a slot only when it is necessary to access the tainter gates for maintenance.

Each bulkhead gate is about as wide as two highway lanes and will be shipped in one piece, one at a time. The tainter gates are bigger – about three lanes wide. These will be shipped in two pieces: one trip for each gate’s girder framework, and another for each gate’s curved steel face. That makes a total of 18 truck trips.

Because Interstate 5 is only two lanes wide over most of its length, it will be necessary to close the highway entirely when the gates are delivered. The closures will occur only at night, said Army Corps project manager Katie Huff, and the trucks will lay over during the day. There are a number of well-known choke points along the way that could cause traffic delays, even at night, such as bridges over the Yolo Bypass and Shasta Reservoir.

A drive that normally takes a car about nine hours will instead take a couple of weeks for each shipment, Huff said. As a result, it will take months to deliver all the gates. By May, all the parts are expected to be on-site at the spillway construction area, where they will be assembled and lowered into place with a giant crane.

“This is a huge milestone,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, who has worked to secure federal funding for the project, including another $70 million in the new appropriations bill passed by the House in January. “It’s quite remarkable, and those gates are huge. I think it’s something people are really going to stop and look at.”

Once off Interstate 5, the gates will be trucked east on Interstate 80. Then they will travel along Madison Avenue to Greenback Lane, Folsom-Auburn Road and Folsom Lake Crossing to reach the construction site. Closures will be required on all these roads, as well.

Downtown Sacramento beat the record for the most rain in a 24-hour period for the date on Saturday, posting 1.29 inches.

The previous record for Feb. 8 of 1.17 inches was set in 1985.

Several other nearby cities also received a lot of moisture from this storm, which started Wednesday night.

Auburn Dam Ridge reported getting 7 inches of precipitation, while Placerville received 6.34 inches. Newcastle posted 5.04 inches of rain, while Orangevale recorded 4.10 inches.

“Folsom Lake has risen two to three feet so far from this system,” said Stefanie Henry, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

And this storm isn’t done yet.

“We’re expecting 0.5 to 0.75 inches tonight into Monday for Sacramento,” said Henry.

Similar amounts of rainfall are expected for Marysville, although Auburn may get up to an inch of rain before the storm passes.

“This is the heaviest one we have in terms of rainfall this season,” said Henry. “It’s a significant storm, and it’s not over yet.”

A flash flood warning for the area where the American fire burned was allowed to expire Sunday when the heaviest rain rates – up to an inch an hour – shifted south and east.

“It did happen but we haven’t heard of any flooding because of it,’ said Henry.

“In Sacramento, we are starting to see significant rises in small creeks, with local flooding, and water ponding,” she said.

The California Highway Patrol was busy Sunday responding to reports of roadway flooding in the Auburn and Placerville areas.

The wet weather is due to a strong atmospheric river, with a lot of moisture from the subtropics being funneled into the area.

Sacramento area residents can expect a soggy commute early Monday with occasional showers, but the system will leave the area by late morning.

“We expect rain to be tapering off tomorrow (Monday), although snow will linger in the mountains,” said Henry.

The Sierra received 10 inches to 13 inches of precipitation from this storm, with Boreal reporting getting over 4 feet of new snow. Sugar Bowl received 50 inches of fresh powder since last Wednesday.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Taking swift action in response to severe drought conditions throughout the state, the California Fish and Game Commission today adopted emergency regulations to close some waters to angling as recommended by the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) last week.

Specifically, the Commission adopted the following emergency regulations:

1. Closure of the American River from Nimbus Dam to the SMUD power line crossing at the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park until April 30.
2. Closure of the Russian River main stem below the confluence of the East Branch of the Russian River until April 30.
3. Extension of the low flow restrictions angling closures for the north coast and central coast areas (above San Francisco Bay) until April 30.
4. In the South Coast District (i.e., San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties), close all portions of any coastal stream west of any Highway 1 bridge until April 30.

The above regulatory actions will become effective upon approval by the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL). At the earliest, these emergency regulations will become effective in mid to late February.

“We can’t make it rain, but we can take action to relieve our beleaguered salmon and steelhead populations from any additional stress,” said Commission President Michael Sutton. “I’m proud that the fishing community supports this action as essential for the conservation of our precious fishery resources.”

Last week, CDFW closed some waters to fishing in order to protect native salmon and steelhead from low water flows in California streams and rivers that have been significantly impacted by drought.

CDFW has the authority under Title 14, Article 4, Section 8.00(c) to close south central coast streams to fishing from December 1 through March 7 when it determines that stream flows are inadequate to provide fish passage for migrating steelhead trout and salmon. As a result, the following waters are closed to angling until March 7 or until stream flows are sufficient to allow fish passage for returning adult steelhead and salmon (to determine whether or not these waters are open to fishing, please call the south central coast closure hotline at (831) 649-2886):

1. Pescadero Creek and all anadromous reaches of San Mateo County coastal streams normally open for fishing, from Elliot Creek through Milagro Creek.
2. The San Lorenzo River and all its tributaries, as well as all anadromous reaches of coastal streams normally open for fishing in Santa Cruz County from the San Lorenzo River on North through Waddell Creek.
3. Aptos and Soquel Creeks (Santa Cruz County).
4. The Pajaro River and Uvas, Llagas and Corralitos Creeks (Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties).
5. The Carmel River and those sections of San Jose, Gibson, Malpaso and Soberanes creeks west of Highway 1.
6. The Big Sur River and those Big Sur area streams from Granite Creek to Salmon Creek west of Highway 1.
7. The main stem of the Salinas River below its confluence with the Arroyo Seco River and the Arroyo Seco River (Monterey County).

In addition, CDFW has the authority under Title 14, Article 4, Section 8.00(a) to close north coast streams to fishing when it determines that the flow at any of the designated gauging stations is less than minimum flows stated in regulation through January 31. Today, the Commission decided to extend the end date of that authority to April 30. As a result, the following north coast streams will be subject to angling closures until April 30 upon OAL approval (to determine whether or not these waters are open to fishing, please call the north coast closure hotline at (707) 822-3164):

1. The main stem Eel River from the paved junction of Fulmor Road with the Eel River to the South Fork Eel River.
2. The South Fork of the Eel River downstream from Rattlesnake Creek and the Middle Fork Eel River downstream from the Bar Creek.
3. The main stem Van Duzen River from its junction with the Eel River to the end of Golden Gate Drive near Bridgeville.
4. The main stem Mad River from the Hammond Trail Railroad Trestle to Cowan Creek.
5. The main stem of the Mattole River from the mouth to Honeydew Creek.
6. The main stem of Redwood Creek from the mouth to its confluence with Bond Creek.
7. The main stem Smith River from the mouth of Rowdy Creek to the mouth of Patrick Creek (tributary of the Middle Fork Smith River); the South Fork Smith River from the mouth upstream approximately 1,000 feet to the County Road (George Tyron) bridge and Craig’s Creek to its confluence with Jones Creek; and the North Fork Smith River from the mouth to its confluence with Stony Creek.

Under Title 14, Article 4, Section 8.00(b) the following central coast streams, which are currently subject to angling closures through April 1, upon approval by OAL will now be subject to angling closures until April 30 (to determine whether or not these waters are open to fishing, please call the central coast closure hotline at (707) 944-5533):

1. Sonoma Creek (Sonoma County), and all streams tributary to the Pacific Ocean (and its bay) in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties, except the Russian River.
2. Napa River (Napa County) between Trancas Avenue in Napa and Oakville Cross Bridge near Yountville.

“This is about keeping as many adult spawning salmon and steelhead in the rivers as possible,” said CDFW Fisheries Branch Chief Stafford Lehr. “We are fully aware of the impacts these closures will have on anglers and related businesses. However, anglers have overwhelmingly supported the decision to close fisheries because they are the original conservationists. They understand the severity of this drought.”

These closures affect recreational fishing only as there are no commercial fisheries in California’s inland rivers. This is the first time the Department and Commission have taken this type of emergency action due to drought.

The closures listed above represent only about five percent of the fishable rivers in the state. There are still plenty of opportunities for California anglers to catch fish in the state’s rivers and streams. Additionally, California’s coast offers substantial ocean fishing. Both are subject to current regulations already in place. For more on fishing in California, please visit http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/.

Current low stream flow conditions will prevent the movement of migrating anadromous fish. Stream flows in many systems are inadequate to allow passage of spawning adults, increasing their vulnerability to mortality from predation, physiological stress and angling. Furthermore, survival of eggs and juvenile fish in these systems over the coming months is likely to be extremely low if the current drought conditions continue. These angling closures on selected streams will increase survival of adult wild steelhead and salmon.

With California facing its driest year on record, Governor Brown declared a drought State of Emergency last month and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to prepare for water shortages. Last week, the state took action to conserve water in numerous Northern California reservoirs to meet minimum needs for operations that impact the environment and the economy. In January CAL FIRE hired 125 additional firefighters to help address the increased fire threat due to drought conditions, the California Department of Public Health identified and offered assistance to communities at risk of severe drinking water shortages and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife restricted fishing on some waterways due to low water flows worsened by the drought. Also last month, the California Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Food and Agriculture also released the California Water Action Plan, which will guide state efforts to enhance water supply reliability, restore damaged and destroyed ecosystems and improve the resilience of our infrastructure.

Governor Brown has called on all Californians to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 20 percent, and the Save Our Water campaign launched four public service announcements encouraging residents to conserve. Last December, the Governor formed a Drought Task Force to review expected water allocations and California’s preparedness for water scarcity. In May 2013, Governor Brown issued an Executive Order to direct state water officials to expedite the review and processing of voluntary transfers of water and water rights.

CDFW low flow closure hotlines:

North coast: (707) 822-3164 Central coast: (707) 944-5533 South central coast: (831) 649-2886

From cdfgnews >>>

Emergency fishing closures were approved today on the American and Russian rivers due to the worsening drought in California.

The state Fish and Game Commission approved the closures unanimously at its meeting Wednesday morning in Sacramento. The action also extends closures on hundreds of smaller coastal streams.

The vote means that all fishing will be banned on the American River from Nimbus Dam downstream to the power lines crossing Ancil Hoffman Park through April 30.

The closures were adopted to protect threatened salmon and steelhead fish from fishing pressure as their habitat has shrunk amid one of the worst droughts in state history. Officials are concerned that anglers are more likely to unintentionally trample the species’ egg nests, or redds, in the gravel riverbeds and more easily kill fish in the process of angling for them.

But Stafford Lehr, chief of the fisheries branch at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the closures are not about “villifying” anglers, but recognizing that extraordinary measures are necessary to protect species already under stress.

“This is about maximizing the protections for the wild fish in these systems, given the projected outlook of a compounding or intensifying drought,” said Lehr. “It is expected we’re going to have compounding mortality (to fish) as we move through the season.”

Lehr’s agency last week took administrative action to ban fishing on coastal streams to fishing. However, in some cases, its closure authority extended only to Jan. 31. It also lacked authority to close the American and Russian rivers by administrative action.

The commission’s vote Wednesday extends the coastal closures to April 30, and adds closures for the same duration on the American and Russian rivers. The closures are expected to take effect by Feb. 23.