Category Archives: safety

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Complaint Alleges American River Flows Too Slow, Warm In Sacramento Area

The federal government’s operation of Folsom and Nimbus dams is harming fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead in the American River, several environmental and fishing groups allege in a complaint filed this week with the state.

The groups are urging the State Water Resources Control Board to amend the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s permits to require colder and faster river flows from the two dams. The board has authority over water rights issued to the Bureau of Reclamation, as well as responsibility for protecting public trust resources, including fisheries and water quality. The board first issued operating permits for the dams in 1958.

“We’ve got to have a guaranteed higher flow, and there have to be modifications to Folsom Dam that will allow them to tap the coldest (water) pool in the reservoir,” said Stephen Green, president of Save the American River Association. “When temperatures are high and flows are low, we know that fish are being killed, and it’s not just this year. It’s been going on for decades.”

The other groups involved in the complaint are the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Save Our Streams Council and the Public Trust Alliance.

The water board is reviewing the complaint, which was received on April 4, said spokesman George Kostyrko. If it decides the complaint has merit, it could be scheduled for a hearing or further investigation.

“It is still early in the process, so we haven’t arrived at that, or any conclusions yet,” Kostyrko said via email.

Reclamation officials said they haven’t reviewed the complaint yet and had no comment.

Reclamation’s permit with the state allows it to reduce flows in the lower American River, which cuts through the Sacramento area, to as low as 250 cubic feet per second under certain conditions. Such flows were reached earlier this winter because of the drought, and may occur again this summer and fall. The complaint alleges this is insufficient to support healthy fish life, and should be raised to at least 750 cfs, Green said.

More at SacBee.com >>>
Fish, safety, Water, Wildlife

Folsom Lake Boating Season Open — But For How Long?

Sailboat owner Ron Hitchcock has enjoyed sailing on Folsom Lake for the past 17 years. But this year, he’s giving up his boat slip at the Brown’s Ravine Marina.

“Why? Because there’s no water. I’ll get on the waiting list and try again next year,” said Hitchcock.

Hitchcock’s decision comes as marina operators are advising boaters that the docks, which just opened last weekend, may be closed again in a matter of weeks due to low water levels.

“I’m thinking we’ll get into May, but there are no guarantees,” said Ken Christensen.

Christensen also said the 5 mph speed limit could return as early as the beginning of June if the lake falls fast enough.

“There’s limited space out there. You have to be constantly watching because you are so close to the bottom,” said Arnold Boeck, a sailboat owner.

Inside the Chevron Food Mart along Green Valley Road, the owner expressed relief that at least the boat docks are now open.

More at KCRA.com >>>

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

Volunteers Will Clean Up American River Parkway This Weekend

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend, and you can get out and enjoy the weather while helping the American River Parkway Foundation with its  “Spring Clean Up.”

Sacramento County Supervisor Susan Peters says the clean-up is an important activity.

“The annual effort helps maintain the American River Parkway as a sustainable, natural resource for everyone to enjoy,” she said.

It’s not too late to join in tomorrow morning.

“It’s very easy to sign up if you go to the website of the American River Parkway Foundation, it’s ARPF.org,” she said.

More at KFBK.org >>>

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

Outdoors: Wealth Of New Information In American River Guidebook

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A ceramist by profession, and by passion, Eric Peach often leaves his home studio in Auburn to venture down into the American River Canyon, looking for inspiration in the rushing white water, the winding trails, the abundant wildlife and bountiful flora of a thriving ecosystem.

You can see the result in his works, ranging from playful river otters to fish sculptures to those psychedelically hued fire belly newts.

But you can also see Peach’s love for the American River and its foothills in bookstores and at outdoor retailers. The third edition of “The American River: Insider’s Guide to Recreation, Ecology and Cultural History of the North, Middle and South Forks” ($24.95, Protect American River Canyons, 416 pages) recently was released, all proceeds going to the nonprofit Protect American River Canyons, the organization that sponsors the American River Confluence Festival and other fundraising events.

Peach, 64, and wife Paula enlisted no fewer than 44 writers and editors, and 30 photo and graphics contributors, to completely revamp the second edition, published a decade ago. This time around, 15 trails were added, as were scores of new and updated rafting routes, including a new stretch from the confluence down to Rattlesnake Bar. There’s also a complete digest of plants and trees, birds, reptiles and mammals, as well as an exhaustive history of the area, from the Indian settlements up to the now-revived attempts to dam the river.

More at SacBee.com >>>
safety, Water

Folsom Lake Water Levels On The Rise

Folsom Lake is on the rise. The lake has risen 43-feet in the last month, stretching above the 400-foot mark and that means the current five-miles-per-hour speed limit for boats is being lifted.

California State Parks officials say the speed restriction was in place because of lower lake levels with rocks and sandbars much closer to the water’s surface.

From KFBK.com >>>
Bike Trail, safety, Water

$150 Million For Sacramento Region Flood Control Projects

Nicole Ortega-Jewell with the Corps’ Civil Works Branch says more than $25 million will ensure the completion of levee work along the American River.

“These will actually be the last remaining sections. They’re scattered throughout the American River and actually this will complete all of the work that was authorized back in 1996 and ’99.”

The work is scheduled to be finished next year.

$69 million will go to Folsom Dam projects.

Marysville and Hamilton City levee projects will also be funded.

For the first time, money was allocated for project engineering and design work for the Natomas Levee Improvement Project.

Nearly $11 million will go to improvements in South Sacramento at Florin Creek.

From CapRadio.org >>>

 

Events, safety

Mountain Rescue Team Hosting Event In American River Canyon

More than 300 search and rescue team members from around the state will be in the American River Canyon near Auburn for a mountain rescue team testing on Saturday, March 1.

The Placer County Sheriff Office’s Mountain Rescue Team, which is one of many specialized teams of the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue operations, is hosting the California Region Mountain Rescue Association (CRMRA) 2014 Reaccreditation. Teams belonging to the CRMRA are required to recertify annually in one of three disciplines, which include snow and ice, technical rock and search and tracking. This year’s event will be search and tracking.

The reaccreditation will take place in the Auburn State Recreation Area in the American River canyon. The command post will be at the American River Canyon Overlook Park, overlooking the Auburn Dam site. Field teams will be tracking “subjects”, working medical scenarios, doing grid searches, and locating a “missing” aircraft. State Parks has been instrumental in allowing the PCSO Mountain Rescue Team to host the event in their jurisdiction.

More at PlacerCountyOnline.com >>>

Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Progress At Folsom Dam Spillway

MormonIsland 2An $802 million project to bolster Folsom Dam is going full bore — and hiring hundreds of local workers and dozens of vendors in the process.

Construction of the control structure — the third in four phases of the Folsom Dam Auxiliary Spillway Project — is nearly complete, says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency spearheading the project.

The project has brought heavy construction equipment and occasional blasting to the area of Folsom Lake Crossing since 2007. It is meant to help the dam control water flow more efficiently if there is a high-water event — and help Sacramento meet its required level of 200-year flood protection.

More at BizJournals.com >>>

safety, Water

Shrunken Folsom Lake Prompts Hydroplane Race Cancellation

Chalk up hydroplane races at Folsom Lake as another casualty of the 2014 drought.

H1 Unlimited officials, the people who brought the big boats back to Folsom Lake after a 46-year absence last May, pulled the plug on holding the local races this year.

H1 chairman Sam Cole, a Sacramento resident, said it was disappointing to have to abandon the hydroplane tour’s stop at Folsom Lake this year, but there was no choice. It was not a question of Folsom Lake being too shallow.

“It is literally too small to accommodate our pit area and a two-mile race course,” Cole said in a press release. “But we will continue our planning and hope for better conditions for a return in 2015.”

More at ModBee.com >>>
Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Roseville Turns On Auxiliary Well Water Pumps

The City of Roseville began pumping water from wells Monday in an effort to preserve the water levels in Folsom Lake.

Roseville gets its water here at Folsom Reservoir, which is now at just 17 percent of capacity.

Several weeks ago, Roseville, the City of Folsom and the San Juan Water District asked the Bureau of Reclamation to reduce water flows from Folsom Dam to preserve more water for the drier months to come.  It agreed and reduced flows into the American River.

To make up the difference, Roseville is firing up its four auxiliary well water pumps to feed into the city’s water system, something that reserved for emergencies or during extreme drought conditions.

The pumps will be phased in and will eventually provide one half to a third of all water used in Roseville. Some residents  may notice more hard water stains on showers, faucets or other water fixtures. It may also taste different, even though it will be treated.

“But when all is said in done, it’s safe for drinking and meets all federal water standards,” Sean Bigley, government relations analyst with the city, said Monday.

Well water is not a concern for Roseville resident Shelby Jones, who is just moving back from Sacramento where she says tap water is harsher.

“If it’s just a smidgen better than Sacramento we’re not going to have a problem,” Jones said.

Roseville’s largest well water pump located  in the northern part of the city, capable pumping out 2,600 gallons of water a minute. It will operate only a few hours a day to start, and stay on longer in coming weeks.  Pumps this large use up loads of electricity and there are other operational costs.

More  at Fox40.com >>>