Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 23, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
RECREATION AT LAKE OROVILLE
Whatever floats your camp; The water's down at Lake Oroville Sacramento
Residents seek injunction to stay at Berryessa - Fairfield Daily Republic
LEVEE ISSUES:
Tracy declines to support levee group - Stockton Record
RECREATION AT LAKE OROVILLE
Whatever floats your camp; The water's down at Lake Oroville
Sacramento
By David Watts Barton, staff writer
If someone told you Lake Oroville State Recreation Area had been named one of the top 100 campgrounds in the country, would you believe him?
No? Why not?
Because it's really just a huge reservoir, created mostly to provide electricity?
Because it's barely out of the Central Valley, in the dry, scrubby foothills, less obviously appealing than the lush uplands of forests, peaks and lakes a half-hour to the east?
Because dropping lake levels in a drought year mean the surface area shrinks each day?
OK. Nevertheless, there it is: The Lake Oroville State Recreation Area was one of only seven campgrounds in
Among the other six
But
And then we saw the floating campsites.
Yes, campsites -- or, more accurately, camp decks -- that sit on the lake itself, in coves around the enormous (if shrinking) lake.
According to a spokesman for the state park system, Oroville is the only place in that system with floating campgrounds. But if their popularity continues, there could be more.
Built on floating decks and anchored to the bottom of the lake, the floating campsites are double-decker structures with all the basic conveniences of home. The sleeping area is on top, with views all around, while the bottom deck features a kitchen (sink, prep area, propane grill), a large picnic table and a solar toilet.
"It's our most relaxing vacation of the year," she says. "This is our fifth year. We go every summer, and every summer we stay longer and longer. Friends ask us how on Earth we can spend a week out there, and then once they see it, they can't believe how nice it is.
"We have ball fights with water balls and water guns. It gets hot, we dip in the water," she adds. "We take books, we make jewelry."
And the camping is easy.
"It takes an hour to set up," she says. "The lake staff comes get your trash every day, pump out the toilet. ... It's a breeze."
The floating campsites are just the most unusual of a large number and variety of campgrounds. Lake Oroville State Recreation Area has the most campsites -- 407 -- of any state park. Only 10 of them are the floating kind, the jewel of the system. And they are hard to get: Reservations must be made several months out.
There are other campsites, including remote ones, equestrian sites and six boat-in spots. Reservations for all of them can be made at (530) 538-2200.
Another way to enjoy the park and be close to the water is to rent one of the many houseboats available at the marinas.
The water and near-water attractions are likely the reason the park draws so many visitors: 1.2 million a year, says Steve Feazel, the park's head ranger.
Once you're camped at
There's even air conditioning, at least in the extensive visitors center on the long, high ridge on the lake's western shore. The center can satisfy visitors' curiosity for a couple of hours, with a number of historic dioramas about the area's American Indians (including Ishi, who first appeared to settlers very near here), the faces of which were modeled on casts made of contemporary local residents. A movie theater in the center will show any of several dozen short films, available on request.
There's also a tower at the visitors center that allows views of the surrounding area.
Near the visitors center is an old toll bridge, relocated from its original spot at Bidwell Bar, the small way station that was flooded when the dam was finished in 1967. The bridge -- the first suspension bridge built in
The dam itself is a remarkable structure. At 770 feet, it's the tallest earthen dam in the country. And it is much more complex than the word "earthen" might imply. Rather than a big pile of dirt, it is an enormously sophisticated structure, with electricity-generating turbines inside the massive structure. Exploded views, models and photos of the construction make up a large section of the visitors center.
And the views from the top of the dam are spectacular, especially if you happen to be there at sunset, when the view out over the
The views from the dam get even better in the fall, when the air is clearer and the nearby Sutter Buttes stand out in high relief.
Though Mosman and her family, like most visitors, tend to stick to the water, others can take advantage of 50 miles of hiking trails that go up to as high as 1,200 feet.
"It's the incredible variety of offerings," says Feazel when asked to speculate on the park's draw. "That, and the bass."
There are nearly 50 bass fishing tournaments a year at the park. One parking lot even features a little amphitheater where anglers can display their catches for an appreciative crowd. Coho salmon are also planted in the lake.
And when the lake is high enough, boats can get within a quarter-mile of spectacular
But that is not an option right now. This year in particular, the dropping water level is creating attractions that the park's employees would just as soon not show off.
"We've got three levels of boat ramps," says Feazel, "And we may well see the third before the summer is out. We're prepared."
According to Ron Beach, head of lake maintenance, his crews have been working daily to lower marinas and move docked boats ever-farther out into the lake.
"We had a houseboat beached the other day," he says. "We had to tow it off the bottom, the water level had dropped so much over night."
But though the dry ground between water and vegetation grows as the lake shrinks -- Mosman said she and her family could see the water drop day by day -- there's still a lot of water left for skiing, swimming, boating or just floating. #
http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/339362-p2.html
Residents seek injunction to stay at Berryessa
By Barry Eberling, staff writer
A group of the owners earlier this year sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over a plan to remake the reservoir's seven resorts.
The bureau wants to get rid of the 1,300 trailers and mobile homes and replace them with lodges, more campsites and other facilities.
On Sept. 14, the owners will ask a federal judge for an injunction to stop the evictions pending the outcome of the case in U.S. District Court.
"Our clock is running out," trailer owner Phil Constantino said. "It doesn't do us any good to win a case if everybody's gone."
The owners sued under the name Berryessa For All. Constantino is a spokesman for the group.
Pedro Lucero, the bureau's
Those contracts expire at various times between December 2007 and April 2009. The bureau is using the occasion to create a Berryessa that agency officials say will better serve people who visit for a few days and want to stay in a lodge, campsite or RV park.
Under the plan, all the trailers and mobile homes must go. Constantino owns a trailer at Lake Berryessa Marina Resort and is to leave by spring 2008. He bought a 1964 trailer at the resort five years ago.
Some of the older trailers can't be moved. Constantino could move his - it has axles - but said most trailer parks won't take older trailers.
"There is no way I'm going to be able to move it anywhere," he said.
That leaves him with the option many of the trailer owners must take, and that is to pay to destroy his trailer. Constantino estimates it could cost $8,400.
The bureau has put information on its Berryessa Web site for trailer owners. It lists such things as other trailer park resorts in the region, dismantling and recycling contractors and companies that will clean up the sites where the trailers sat.
But the lawsuit seeks to keep the Berryessa resort land from being swept clean of trailers and mobile homes. The legal dispute highlights the divergent views of the two sides.
Bureau officials have said they want to make public land open to everyone. Trailer owners said there's room for both trailers and short-term users and that trailer leases keep the resorts profitable. #
http://local.dailyrepublic.net/story_localnews.php?a=news05.txt
LEVEE ISSUES:
The Central Valley Resource Agency, headed by former congressman and Tracy City Council member Richard Pombo, has been working to attain the backing of cities to lobby for funding to address flood issues.
But flooding isn't as large a concern in
"There's just too many unknowns," she said.
The Stockton City Council formed the group and has pledged $100,000 to support it. Policymakers in
Parts of northern
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