Category Archives: Water

Events, Rafting, safety, Water

Life jackets recommended for holiday fun in the water

Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of the summer recreation season, drawing boaters and swimmers to Sacramento region waterways.

With that in mind, public safety officials are urging people recreating in area rivers, lakes and streams to wear life jackets. Even though the river flow is low this year, they stress that strong currents exist below the surface and the water is cold.

The American River Parkway Foundation announced this week that is taking on the responsibility of purchasing and supplying life vests for Kids Don’t Float, a program that lends life vests to children during the summer months at seven access points along the American River.

The Kids Don’t Float program was initiated in 2003 by Sacramento County and its Emergency Medical Services Agency. Since then, the program has provided more than 2,000 new life vests annually to stock river access stations. Due to ongoing budget cuts, however, the county recently discontinued funding for the program, leading the American River Parkway Foundation to assume responsibility.

The foundation, a nonprofit agency, manages volunteer and donor programs to help preserve and maintain the 23-mile stretch of the parkway from the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.

The life vest stations will be re-supplied and inspected twice a week from Memorial Day through Labor Day by the Drowning and Accident Rescue Team, and Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Life jacket stations include two sites at Discovery Park, Ancil Hoffman Park, Howe Avenue river access, Watt Avenue river access, River Bend Park and the Sunrise river access. Life jackets should be returned to the appropriate stations at the end of the day so other people can use them. Each station will offer ten to 15 life vests in various sizes.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Uncategorized, Water, Wildlife

Take a Historical and Geological Side Trip from Interstate 80: Placerville

Here’s a way to turn the routine roar up I-80 into a jaunt through part of the Mother Lode in Placerville. The route starts with US Route 50, which splits off I-80 just west of Sacramento.

On this trip you stay on 50 to Placerville, then strike north across the watershed of the American River to Auburn, where I-80 is the ridge route to the crest of the Sierra Nevada. With minimal stops it takes a couple hours, but there are lots of places to linger.

More at KQED.org >>>

Rafting, safety, Water, Wildlife

White-water season gets mixed reviews

With snowmelt trickling down the mountainsides, white-water enthusiasts are bubbling in anticipation of big rapids. But this year, with low snowfall, rivers without dam-controlled releases are in for a short season.

“A little bit lower water does not mean there’s not good rapids,” said Janeen Stewart, operator of Earthtrek Expeditions, a rafting company based in Lotus, Calif. “Actually, some of the rapids are better because there are drops.”

Rafting companies that run the American River, Truckee River and Carson River are kicking off the white-water season. Though the flows aren’t bursting, water management through the dams will prolong their seasons on some stretches through the summer.

“We do raft three rivers, the North Fork, the South Fork and the Middle Fork of the American River,” said Brynn Allen, a guide with Adventure Connection, based in Lotus, Calif. “The North Fork is the one of the three that does not have dam release. There’s not enough water in that river to be runnable right now.”

More at TahoeDailyTribune.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, Water, Wildlife

‘A Day on the Farm’ at Soil Born Farms

On rich farmland along the American River and tucked next to Hagan Park is Soil Born Farms, the site of the fifth annual “Day on the Farm.” The May 19 event is billed as an opportunity to “Learn, Eat and Celebrate!” and will feature a fresh farm stand, cooking classes, farms tours, farm animals, plant sale, nature walks, live music, workshops, food, and arts and crafts.

At the event, participants can experience Soil Born Farms, which produces certified organic produce for local farm stands, restaurants and grocery stores. Soil Born Farms Urban Agriculture and Education Project was started in 2000 to connect urbanites with healthy, local food. Soil Born Farms also offers experiential farm, gardening and cooking education, and provides healthy food access programs for the community in partnership with schools and other agencies.

More at SacramentoPress.com >>>

Bike Trail, Rafting, Water, Wildlife

Public meeting May 23 on Watt Avenue levee repair

Plans by the U.S. Army Corps to repair the American River levee under Watt Avenue in Sacramento could result in lane closures, and the public is invited to a meeting on the project May 23.

The work at the north end of the Watt Avenue bridge is necessary to close a gap in the existing seepage cutoff wall inside the levee, on either side of the bridge. The Army Corps built more than 20 miles of seepage walls in American River levees between 2000 and 2002. But work was set aside for later where complicated encroachments existed, such as utilities, power lines or bridges.

Construction is expected to begin later this month and continue through November. Nighttime partial lane closures of Watt Avenue are expected in late July.

The American River Bike Trail and major thoroughfares will remain open during construction. But some trail access points near the bridge may be intermittently closed.

The meeting will be May 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Arden-Dimick Public Library, 891 Watt Avenue.

For more information, call (916) 557-5100 or email spk-pao@usace.army.mil.

From SacBee.com >>>

Rafting, safety, Water

Two men drown in separate incidents – beware cold water

Two men drowned in the American River in separate incidents over the weekend, officials said.

An unidentified 25-year-old man drowned Sunday while swimming near the Howe Avenue boat ramp, Sacramento fire officials said. He began struggling and slipped under the water while swimming in the river with another man and a minor, who were rescued from a nearby island, officials said.

On Saturday, a 23-year-old Rancho Cordova man apparently drowned while swimming in the American River near Lake Natoma, officials said.

More at SacBee.com >>>

 

safety, Water

Man drowns in American River

A 25 year old Sacramento man drowned in the American River Sunday around 3:30 p.m. during a swim with friends.

The victim, a friend and the friend’s 12-year-old daughter swam to an island off the Howe Avenue Boat Launch Facility, near La Riviera Drive, and were swimming back to shore when the man got into trouble. The friend tried to help the man, but wasn’t able to according to relatives.

Sacramento City Fire crews responded to the scene to search for the man. Around 4:45 p.m., crews recovered the man’s body.

The friend and the 12-year-old girl were not injured during the incident.

More at News10.net >>>

Fire, safety, Water, Wildlife

Man Accused of Setting American River Canyon Brush Fire

Placer County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man Wednesday after he allegedly started a brush fire near the American River canyon.

A woman reported seeing the fire shortly after 11 a.m., and also saw a man jumping fences.

A Sheriff’s lieutenant who responded yelled at the man to stop, but he kept going.

A crew from the Sheriff’s Office was training with a helicopter nearby. One sergeant from the group confronted the man and got into a fight with him.

More at Fox40.com >>>