Category Archives: Water

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

50 years of protecting the American River Parkway

The Save the American River Parkway Association celebrated its 50th anniversary this month and received a resolution from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors honoring its accomplishments over the past five decades.

“We commend the work that a whole host of folks (at the association) have done in providing a strong voice for a precious resource,” Supervisor Don Nottoli said Tuesday as he presented the resolution.

The Save the American River Association is a volunteer, nonprofit group of more than 600 members and a Board of Directors that started in 1961 to develop the American River Parkway and to create a plan to maintain it.

The 23-mile American River Parkway hosts more than 5 million visitors each year for fishing, boating and rafting on the water – and picnicking, golfing and paved walking and bicycling trails for land lovers.

More at SacramentoPress.com >>>

Bike Trail, safety, Water

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson commits to finding ‘safe ground’ site

Mayor Kevin Johnson on Tuesday pledged his commitment for creating a sanctioned “safe ground” for as many as 100 homeless campers in Sacramento, calling it a final piece of the area’s mosaic of programs to shelter needy people.

“I believe we have waited too long” to create a place where homeless people can legally sleep outside with basic services and access to programs that can help them become more stable, he said at his weekly news conference. “We’ve studied this for three years. This is not that complicated.”

Currently, about 100 campers have pitched tents on the south side of the American River near 10th Street, and the City Council was scheduled to take up the controversial matter for the first time Tuesday night.

Johnson urged some of the campers to join the “nomadic shelter” program, in which homeless men and women sleep in rotating houses of worship on cold winter nights.

Wells Fargo salvaged that program this week by contributing $75,000 to keep it running through March.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Bike Trail, safety, Water

Drilling begins on American River Parkway levees

A contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is drilling into levees along the American River Parkway through January to collect soil samples.

Visitors to the parkway are advised to watch out for the equipment and give the crew working room.

This week, the truck-mounted drilling rigs and an equipment staging area are located along the river’s south bank, at Paradise Beach west of J Street in Sacramento. The work will continue eastward to Watt Avenue, on both sides of the river, through January.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Events, Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Outbound Escapes: A fly fishing talk; a salmon watching spot

Fish fanciers take note: The salmon ladder at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery opened Nov. 1, signaling the official start of the spawning season on the Sacramento River.

Nimbus is one of three state-run hatcheries in the Central Valley that will take approximately 38 million eggs from salmon over the next two months in order to produce 24 million Chinook salmon for release next spring.

Nimbus has a viewing area where visitors may watch the spawning process and a playground where kids and adults may enjoy replicas of giant salmon.

The center, located at 2001 Nimbus Road, Suite F, Gold River, is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends every day except Christmas. Raceways (fish-rearing ponds) are open from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Opening time may vary during spawning season.

For more information, go to www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/Nimbus.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, safety, Water

Bike trail closed near Watt Avenue

A project to repair levee erosion along the American River has closed a portion of the bike and walking path in the parkway near Watt Avenue.

The repairs, overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of engineers, are part of the previously authorized Sacramento River Bank Protection Project, which addresses levee erosion on the Sacramento River and its tributaries.

The latest phase involves placing large rock, called rip-rap, along the waterline of the south bank of the American River at two locations between Watt Avenue and Larchmont Park. A section of public path atop the levee about three-quarters of a mile long will be closed until the expected completion of the work on Nov. 30. Foot and bike traffic are being detoured through the neighborhood south of the levee.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, safety, Water, Wildlife

Parkway volunteers clean up trash at abandoned homeless camps

Volunteers for the American River Parkway Foundation are cleaning up trash left at abandoned homeless encampments along the parkway this morning.

About 150 volunteers hit the parkway shortly before 10 a.m., leaving from the Northgate parking lot of the recreation area.

“We want people to come enjoy the parkway,” said Dianna Poggetto, executive director of the foundation.

That’s hard to do when there’s a lot of trash, so the volunteers go out periodically to clean up what’s left behind by campers along the river.

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

Levee Improvements Begin In Sacramento

The construction is taking place along the south bank of the American River between Watt Avenue and the Mayhew Drain. About two dozen trucks will be making up to 150 trips a day.

Dave Cook is the project manager. He says the levee is eroding because of abundant Sierra snowmelt.

“When that happens the water speeds up and actually starts to tear the banks away and the sediment starts to transport itself down the river and it causes problems in the fact that if we had a failure it would obviously flood businesses and homeowners in that area.”

More at CapRadio.org >>

Events, Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Salmon run to be on display as Nimbus fish ladder opens

The fish ladder at Nimbus Hatchery on the American River is expected to open for the season Tuesday, giving visitors a chance to witness a resurgent fall salmon run.

Visitors are likely to see a strong fall chinook salmon run at the hatchery for the first time in four years. Fishermen are enjoying the first full salmon season since 2007. Anglers are crowding both the American and Sacramento rivers for the chance to catch a king salmon, which typically return to spawn in their freshwater birthplace after three years in the ocean.

More at ModBee.com >>