[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 9/10/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

September 10, 2008

 

1.  Top Item

 

 

 

Low water warning for Lake Tahoe

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza- 9/10/08

By Tanya Canino, Editor

 

 

As Lake Tahoe sinks toward its natural rim, area boat ramps are closing due to the low water level.

The boat ramps in Kings Beach and Tahoe Vista closed after Labor Day, and the Sand Harbor boat ramp plans to close Monday, Sept. 15.

“I wanted to get past this peak season before we close the ramp, but we are seeing people get stuck out there,” said Jay Howard, superintendent of Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park, which includes the Sand Harbor facility.

He said the four-lane, 50-foot Sand Harbor ramp has only 10 feet left in the water, and boulders and sand bars are making it difficult for boaters to launch. At this point, boat owners are dropping off the ramp in order to get their boats launched, which can beat up a boat as well as the ramp. The result is trailers getting stuck, the ramp being damaged, and even boat props being lost in the lake.

“I’m very glad we made it past Labor Day this year and we were able to serve the public,” Howard said.

On busy summer days, Sand Harbor launches about 150 boats a day. Closing the ramp after the Labor Day holiday affects less people, Howard said, adding that boaters can still launch at Cave Rock.

The last time Sand Harbor closed its ramp was in 2004, just after the Fourth of July holiday.

“It has happened a number of times since the park was developed in the 70s,” Howard said.

Sand Harbor will erect a concrete barrier on one side and a removable gate on the other, just in case the ramp needs to be used for emergencies, he said.

As for Ski Beach, the main boat launching point in Incline Village, it remains open as of today.

At the last Incline Village General Improvement District board meeting (Aug. 27), Hal Paris, parks and recreation supervisor, reported that the Ski Beach boat ramp is being monitored daily because of the low lake level.

On Tuesday, Paris said that remains the case for IVGID.

“We have not yet established any type of closing date this season,” Paris said. “We’re encouraging boaters to pay attention and know the conditions before launching.”

The Lake Forest Boat Ramp, next to the U.S. Coast Guard station, is down to one lane, according to Layne Van Noy, parks and recreation supervisor for the ramp’s operator, the Tahoe City Public Utility District.

“We evaluate it daily,” Van Noy said.

Area boat ramp closures mainly came after Labor Day after the lake dropped dramatically in just a few days.

“It dropped significantly over Labor Day,” said Kathy Long, the parks and facility manager for North Tahoe Public Utility District, which owns the Tahoe Vista and Kings Beach boat ramps.

High winds during the Labor Day weekend rapidly lowered the lake, according to Chad Blanchard, chief deputy water master in the federal Water Master’s office.
Lake Tahoe dropped 18/100s of a foot over four days that weekend, he said.

Tuesday’s lake level of 6224.04 elevation feet is only a foot above the natural rim, which was last recorded in January 2005. Depending on weather conditions, Blanchard expects Tahoe to be at its natural rim again in late November or December this year.

Lake Tahoe has a 6.1-foot reservoir on top of its natural rim, which supplies downstream water. Already, the gates at the Lake Tahoe Dam in Tahoe City are wide open, and as the lake level lowers, water flowing into the river will have to be augmented by releases from Prosser and Boca reservoirs. Boca Reservoir is at 31,000 acre feet right now, but once it drops to 29,000 acre feet, that boat ramp will be dry as well, Blanchard said.

Across Lake Tahoe, the City of South Lake Tahoe also closed the El Dorado Campground boat ramp, as people were driving 300 feet into the lake to launch, said Dennis Zabaglo, watercraft program manager of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Not only is the water level affecting boat ramps, but the lack of inspectors for invasive species.

Long said the TRPA asked if the NTPUD could close its ramps when inspectors are not present. The water levels forced the NTPUD’s boat ramps to close, but if it had not, the NTPUD would have closed the ramps because it cannot afford to pay staff to inspect boats, Long said.

The TRPA has recently asked Tahoe’s 12 public and private boat ramp operators to close their ramps when inspectors for invasive species are not present. TRPA staff are currently developing code to make it mandatory to close boat ramps when inspectors are not present. Meetings are planned for early next week with the boat ramp operators to get their ideas and suggestions on how to accomplish this, Zabaglo said.#

http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20080910/NEWS/809099957/1061&ParentProfile=1050