Category Archives: Rafting

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

Sacramento County officials: American River is running fast so use caution

The American River is running higher than it has in years from Folsom to Sacramento, resulting in closed access points and encroachment on beaches.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation increased water releases from Folsom Dam to 15,000 cubic feet per second this week to make room for rain expected to begin on Thursday and continue through the weekend.

The increase flow from Folsom Lake has produced a faster-running river and led to cautions from Sacramento County officials. Sacramento County Regional Parks officials are discouraging boating, rafting and swimming in the American River.

Access points at Howe and Watt avenues on the American River Parkway are closed to vehicle traffic. A detour near Sailor Bar, mile 21.5 on the bike trail, is in place for bicyclists and pedestrians. Boat launches at Upper Sunrise and Sailor Bar are closed due to the increased flow.

At the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers in downtown Sacramento, Discovery Park beaches – where a week ago anglers tried their luck from shore – were inundated on Wednesday. Along the bank, cautionary signs warned “HIGH FLOWS: Raft, swim, or boat at your own risk.”

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

Police Urge Caution Near American River As Folsom Dam Releases Increase

Police are urging people near the American River in the Cal Expo area to seek higher ground.

A Sacramento Police helicopter could be heard flying over the area Monday, broadcasting a recorded precautionary message urging people near the river to move to higher ground.

The recent storm has prompted the Bureau of Water Reclamation to increase the rate of water being released from Folsom Lake. A powerful storm brought heavy amounts of rain and snow to the foothills and Sierra, which sharply increased water levels.

More at CBSLocal.com >>>

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, 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 >>>

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, 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 >>>

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

Appeals court says Folsom can go ahead with improvements for Lake Natoma

A state appeals court has cleared the way for Folsom to add and enhance facilities on the shore of Lake Natoma.

The city plans a project that it says will make the shore more accessible to the disabled.

On Thursday, Folsom won a court victory over the Save the American River Association, a citizens’ group dedicated to safeguarding the natural environment of the American River Parkway. The group argued that the city was using the improvements to attract more people to the Folsom Historic District, a zone of shops, bars, restaurants and some historic locations adjacent to the lake.

The city’s true intent is “to increase access and intensity of use … so that Folsom can realize an economic benefit to the Folsom Historic District,” the association argued in a lawsuit to force an environmental impact review by the city in accord with the California Environmental Quality Act.

The association also argued that Folsom’s intent is inconsistent with land-use plans that cover the area.

A three-justice panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal said in Thursday’s unanimous opinion that the project was not inconsistent with adopted plans covering management of the parkway.

The Save the American River Association “has not shown the existence of any substantial evidence giving rise to a fair argument that the project is inconsistent with either plan,” the justices concluded, affirming Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny’s earlier rejection of the association’s plea for an environmental study.

The association pressed its argument that the project will destroy the “natural” quality of the area, changing it “from one appropriately assigned to the low-intensity recreation/conservation designation” to one with a higher-intensity designation that has no conservation element.

More at SacBee.com >>>

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

Folsom Lake hits lowest depths in 20-plus years

Even as Sacramento waits for the soaking El Niño forecast to hit this fall, Folsom Lake continues to lose water and will almost certainly fall Thursday to its lowest level in more than 20 years, government data show.

Folsom Lake provides drinking water to hundreds of thousands of residents in the Sacramento region. Releases from the federal reservoir also serve as a bulwark against Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta saltwater intrusion, and are critical to maintaining the delicate ecosystem of the lower American River.

Folsom Lake became the face of California’s drought early last year when aerial photos of its moonscape lake bed were broadcast nationwide. At its lowest point last year, the lake level was the same as what the reservoir contained Wednesday. By Thursday, the reservoir is expected to fall to levels last seen in 1992, at the tail end of a five-year drought. And by month’s end, the depth likely will approach levels not seen since the great drought of 1977.

Area water officials said they are concerned about the dwindling supply but expressed relief that lake depths are not even lower. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the reservoir, initially warned that the lake could fall to 120,000 acre-feet by the end of September.

“The situation has been so rough,” said bureau spokesman Shane Hunt. “We are doing everything we can to make sure we maintain water supplies to homes.”

Still, he added, “We are better than a worst-case scenario.”

More at SacBee.com>>>