Category Archives: Water

Bike Trail, Fire, safety, Water, Wildlife

Sacramento County takes aim at illegal camping, homelessness

The recent rash of brush fires raging across the American River Parkway triggered a strong response Thursday from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

The county is spending about $700,000 to tackle the duel problems of illegal camping and homelessness along the parkway, long considered to be Sacramento’s urban jewel.

“To me, given the tinder-dry conditions on the parkway, the fuel loads out there — combined with the ignition sources or illegal camps — it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Phil Serna, chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

As KCRA 3 reported, the American River Parkway has been the site of 34 fires since Memorial Day — many of them very near homeless camps.

Serna championed the relief package today that includes $216,850 for three additional park rangers, along with $101,237 for additional patrol resources at the Mather Regional Park/Dry Creek Parkway Patrol. The county will also spend $121,412 for Mather Regional Park Preserve Fencing and $55,000 for a homeless navigator.

“The navigator is the front-line person that brings them in to our system and ultimately into that housing,” said Ryan Loofbourrow, executive director for Sacramento Steps Forward.

The new funding also includes $160,000 for winter sanctuary housing for the homeless — money to help religious organizations find shelter for those in need. But the long-term goal is permanent housing.

“It does in fact keep people off the street and help them start to rebuild their lives,” said Maya Wallace, external affairs director for Sacramento Steps Forward.

On any given night there are between 200 and 300 people illegally camping on the American River Parkway, officials said.

One of them is Angel Tejeda, who is four-months pregnant.

More at KCRA.com >>>

News from Other Watersheds, safety, Video, Water

Gold Miners Rescued via Helicopter near Lake Tahoe

Two gold miners were rescued via helicopter from the rugged wilderness near Lake Tahoe Wednesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Three friends had gone panning for gold Tuesday in the Sawtooth Ridge area, near the north fork of the American River, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said. One man returned to camp early, leaving the other two at the river.

The next day, investigators say the man was unable to contact his friends, Denny McCloud and Denny Jr.

More at Fox40.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fire, safety, Water, Wildlife

34 fires on American River Parkway since late May

Thirty-four fires have burned along the American River Parkway in Sacramento County since Memorial Day weekend during a severe statewide drought.

The drought typically prompts public officials to tell California residents to be fire-safe, but many people whose homes are near the parkway say officials should be doing much more to alleviate fire danger here.

“We need to do something differently,” said J.T. Marcell, who lives near downtown Sacramento. “We need to work smarter, not harder.”

More at KCRA.com >>>

Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

More than 200,000 trout die at American River Hatchery

More than 200,000 rainbow trout suffocated in a matter of minutes Tuesday at the American River Hatchery near Rancho Cordova due to an unexpected release of gunk from Folsom Dam that clogged water intakes.

The unexpected die-off could mean anglers have a tougher time finding fish to catch next year, since the 4-inch Eagle Lake subspecies of rainbow trout were to be released when they grew larger, said Bill Cox, hatchery system manager at the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which also operates the adjacent Nimbus Hatchery for salmon.

State hatchery managers already were struggling amid a disease outbreak and California’s historic four-year drought to keep enough fish in lakes and rivers to satisfy their legal obligations to supply fish for the state’s nearly 2 million recreational anglers.

“We already had less inventory than we wanted for this hatchery,” Cox said. “Now, if we lose those fish, that’s a big hit. Now, we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do about it.”

Cox said the die-off at the American River Hatchery occurred without warning Tuesday afternoon. He said he’s not exactly sure what happened, but he knows that the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages Folsom Dam, “changed to a pipe they hadn’t use in several years” as part of a dredging operation.

“And when they did that, a slug of stuff … came down and came into the hatchery,” he said.

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

Fire burns into trees along bike trail near Discovery Park

Sacramento Fire Department crews were called Tuesday morning to put out a fire along the American River bike trail near Discovery Park.

The fire was reported about 6 a.m. burning in grass about a half-mile east of Discovery Park on the north side of the American River. The blaze spread into underbrush and trees, eventually consuming at least 1 acre.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Boating, Fish, History, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Mormon Island ruins re-emerge from shrinking Folsom Lake

The ruins of a California town built during the California Gold Rush have re-emerged above the water at Folsom Lake.

The stone walls and foundations that made up part of the town of Mormon Island were visible on Monday.

Mark White, of Sacramento, hiked to the site near Brown’s Ravine and used his camera to capture some of the most striking images so far of the California drought.

“You don’t get to see this very often. Thank God!” White said.
Scattered among the ruins are rusty nails, pieces of pottery and other artifacts that belonged to the 2,500 people who lived in the Mormon Island in the mid-1850s.

“Some of the pottery we found you could tell was like a vase or like a clay pot, just be the shape of it,” said Janet Dyer, of Citrus Heights.
Signs warn visitors not to disturb the site and not to take anything.

However, Dyer said she noticed that a license plate she had seen at the site the last time the water was this low was missing.
“Hopefully, it’s in a history museum somewhere and not on somebody’s shelf,” she said.

The surface of the lake was at 364 feet above level on Monday.
That is 7 feet above last year’s low point of 357 feet and 17 feet higher than the all-time record low of 347 set in 1977.

More at KCRA.com >>>

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

PRESERVE THE PARKWAY

Saturday, September 19, is the date for the annual “Great American River Clean Up.”  During the hours of 9 a.m. to noon, please consider donating some time to help clean the American River Parkway.

The American River Parkway Foundation sponsors the annual event as one way to maintain the natural habitat that comprises this 23 mile stretch along the American River.

Volunteers can register online and many students use the event as a way to earn community service credits for school.  Staging sites where you can check-in include Alumni Grove at CSUS, Ancil Hoffman Park, and William Pond Park.   More information can be obtained online at the American River Parkway Foundation website. 

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

Flows cut at Folsom Lake to conserve Sacramento water supply

Federal officials plan to make a significant cut to flows from Folsom Lake, which is a primary water source for Sacramento suburbs, as water levels at the reservoir near historic lows.

The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1O4XUGy ) the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will cut flows out of Folsom Lake in half by the end of the week.

As of Monday, the lake held about 20 percent of its capacity at 196,000 acre-feet of water. Reclamation officials have pledged not to let Folsom Lake drop below 120,000 acre-feet.

More at ktvn.com >>>

Boating, Rafting, safety, Water

Drowned man recovered from south fork of American River identified as Colorado man

A swimmer who drowned in the south fork of the American River last week has been identified as a Colorado man.

The body of Luke Matson, 33, of Vail, Colo., was recovered in the river on Tuesday, the day after he went missing.

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said that Matson was swimming Aug. 24 in the area of the Marshall gold discovery site. His friends last saw him floating downstream from Sutter’s Mill.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Bike Trail, Boating, Rafting, safety, Water

Drought May Be Responsible For Rise In Sacramento, American River Deaths

More people are drowning in two of Sacramento’s rivers, and the drought may be partially responsible.

The Sacramento Bee reports there have been six drownings on the Sacramento River in 2015 where typically there are between one and two annually. Data from the Sacramento County coroner shows drownings on the American River are two times higher than average years in the last decade.

More at CBSLocal.com >>>