Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 21, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Drownings prompt Valley warnings
Fresno Bee
Narrow escape points to river dangers
Grass Valley Union
Sheppard Fire: Firefighters look for 100 percent containment today
Ukiah Daily Journal
Mammoth Bar Fire contained
Auburn Journal
The eagles have landed
Auburn Journal
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Drownings prompt Valley warnings
Valley officials urge the public to practice safety around water
Fresno Bee-7/20/09
By Denny Boyles
After the drowning deaths of at least six people in recent weeks, Valley officials are pleading with the public to use caution in and around the water.
Hot weather and a tough economy are combining to drive more people to local lakes, rivers and pools, said Fresno County sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice.
And lately, those waterways have proved to be deadly.
Two teenage girls drowned in separate incidents in the Kaweah River in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks last weekend, the first drownings in the parks this year.
Those deaths follow other drownings at Angels Falls, Bass Lake, the Kings River and Chiquita Creek.
Sgt. Jim Franks, dive team supervisor for the Tulare County Sheriff's Department, said people are often deceived by how safe river water looks.
"When the water is high and going fast, it looks nasty and people seem to stay out of it. Now that the water is going down, it doesn't look that bad, but it's still powerful," Franks said.
Curtice said his department and other public safety agencies are trying to protect people, but swimmers have to use caution -- and common sense.
"We have deputies out in as many places as we can, trying to urge people to use personal flotation devices and to boat and swim safely. But we know there are people getting in the water who can't swim, and we can't be everywhere," Curtice said.
Even floating on a seemingly calm river can be dangerous if conditions turn bad.
On Saturday, Tulare County sheriff's deputies rescued a woman from the St. Johns River. She had been floating in an inner tube when the current forced her into rocks and flipped her tube over.
Curtice said that could happen on any area river: "We have thousands of people out on the rivers every day, and our message to them is 'if you can't swim, don't get in the water.' "#
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1547851.html
Narrow escape points to river dangers
Grass Valley Union-7/21/09
By Liz Kellar
A near-drowning in the South Yuba River over the weekend — on the heels of a river fatality a week before — serves as a chilling illustration of the dangers of the scenic waterway, even when flow is down to a trickle and swimming holes appear placid and inviting.
Saturday's accident involved a woman who dove toward the bottom of a pool while swimming. A drowning July 11 involved a Sacramento man who fell out of an innertube and whose foot became wedged between rocks.
“People don't see raging water (when the river is low), but there's still a lot of rapid movement below the surface,” said Nevada County Consolidated Fire Battalion Chief Spike Newby. “It can still trap you. You might just be a few inches below the surface and still drown.
“Take a swimming pool,” Newby said. “That's a controlled environment where the water doesn't move and you can see the bottom. Put that pool into a river environment, where all you can see is the surface. Your eye doesn't tell you how swift the water is moving toward the bottom.”
A swimmer's experience in one swimming hole won't be the same in the next hole down the river, because varying rock formations will create different water dangers, Newby added.
On Saturday, a 40-year-old woman narrowly escaped drowning even though river levels are at their summertime low levels.
Shannon Pombo allegedly swam to the bottom of a pool in the South Yuba upstream of the old Highway 49 bridge to pick up river rocks when she became trapped by the current underneath.
“She was trapped under the water head-first,” said State Parks Ranger Mike Smittle.
Her husband noticed she was in trouble, but was unable to free her, Smittle said. Several men who were gold-panning upstream heard him calling for help, and they helped pull her out.
Pombo apparently lost consciousness for a period and sustained several injuries. She was taken by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and discharged the next day.
On July 11, Raymond Fowler, 41, of Sacramento drowned in the South Yuba River while tubing.
Fowler, who was not wearing a life preserver, died when he lost control of his innertube, fell into the water and was sucked under, where his foot became caught in rocks. His friends swam under the water and tried to free him, but the force of the current was too strong.
“The water is low, but people don't understand the force of the water,” Smittle said. “You have to be aware of what the water is doing.”
Currently, the water flow at Jones Bar is 47 to 49 cubic feet per second, compared to high-water levels of approximately 1,700 to 1,900 cubic feet per second. But even in an area where pools appear placid and there is no whitewater, down at the bottom of the river there are strong currents.
Fowler's death marked the fifth drowning in the county in three months.
On May 19, the South Yuba River claimed 57-year-old Grant Alan Burton in the same area that nearly claimed Pombo — though water was high at the time.
Burton allegedly had been drinking when he ventured too far out into the water and was swept underneath a rock just upstream from the old Highway 49 bridge.
Cheryl Ann Johnson, 51, of Newcastle, drowned in a tubing accident on the Bear River three days earlier after being thrown from the innertube and trapped in a rock formation underwater.
On April 19, Daniel Farris, 22, of Yuba City, died when he dove off a rock into a pool below Beale Falls in Spenceville Wildlife Area. Mollie Taplin, 31, of Nevada City, was found the same day, floating face down in the South Yuba River near Edwards Crossing.#
http://www.theunion.com/article/20090721/NEWS/907209967&parentprofile=search
Sheppard Fire: Firefighters look for 100 percent containment today
Ukiah Daily Journal-7/21/09
By Monica Krauth and Carole Brodsky
By 9 p.m. Monday night, what is being called the Sheppard Fire was 60 percent contained and Cal Fire spokeswoman Tracy Boudreaux said firefighters hope to have the fire fully contained by this morning.
As of Monday night the fire had consumed 105 acres.
Some 150 firefighters from almost every fire department in the Ukiah and surrounding valleys and even the coast, battled the vegetation fire all afternoon in the southwestern hills Monday.
The fire threatens structures in the Sheppard Ranch Road area off the Boonville Road, but no evacuations have been mandated.
While Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies said that there were no forced evacuations, Monday afternoon they began to stop cars from going up Sheppard Road from the Boonville Road and California Highway Patrol officers prevented people from going up Oak Knoll Road from South State Street.
Cal Fire helicopters and planes dropped water on the spreading flames as wind picked up and smoke was seen throughout Ukiah and reportedly throughout Boonville during most of the late afternoon.
By evening, as it darkened, firefighters were continuing to jump on spot fires created by downgusts of westward wind and trying to keep control of a fire they did not want to get over the ridge into the western hills of Ukiah where a wildland fire could be devastating.
The fire started in the 3600 block of Robinson Creek Road Monday afternoon at 3:24 p.m. and quickly moved over the ridge toward Spanish Canyon.
Firefighting aircraft continued to move over the ground as the evening progressed trying to get as much done before dark.
Firefighters had trouble reaching many of the remote woodland areas of the fire and have been depending heavily on airborne firefighters to keep the fire under control.
People who live in the area and who left were not being allowed back in Monday afternoon but access has been restored - but only for residents on certain roads.
During the day Monday, Sheriff's deputies had to be insistent with residents of the fire threatened areas who want to go home despite the possibility of the fire's spread.
Meanwhile spectators stopped along South State Street to watch the smoke darken the sky.
Ukiah Valley Fire Department, Ukiah Fire Department, Little Lake Fire District, Anderson Valley Fire Department, Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department, Potter Valley Fire Department, Hopland Fire Department, the Mendocino Coast and Fort Bragg fire departments, Mendocino County Sheriff's Department and CHP all reported to the scene with Cal Fire.
Equipment included five air tankers, one helicopter, one water tender, hand crews, dozers and at least 18 engines.#
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_12881398
Mammoth Bar Fire contained
Auburn Journal-7/20/09
The Mammoth Bar Fire was fully contained over the weekend, according to Cal Fire reports.
The fire burned a total of 643 acres and took more than 300 fire personnel, multiple engines dozens of fire crews and multiple helicopters, dozers and water tenders to put out.
Crews continued to put out hot spots and maintain containment lines over the weekend.
There were no reported threats to communities or homes.
The fire started Thursday afternoon and closed Foresthill Road and Old Foresthill Road.#
Trend worsening for pollutant in 16 national parks
Fairfield Daily Republic-7/20/09
By Mike Stark (Associated Press)
A pollutant that can slowly trigger changes in the lives of plants and animals is increasingly being found in 16 National Park Service sites, mostly in the Western United States.
Air quality data obtained by The Associated Press shows significant worsening trends for ammonium in several flagship parks, including Yellowstone, Mount Rainier and Utah's Canyonlands.
Ammonium is often linked with fertilizers, agricultural operations and urban pollution.
Rich in nitrogen, the pollutant can act like a fertilizer and cause changes to soil and water chemistry. In large enough doses, it also can affect the diversity of species and give fuel for exotic grasses that, in turn, facilitate the spread of wildfires.
Scientists say they're unable to pinpoint the sources of the ammonium, which is carried in rain and snow.#
http://search.dailyrepublic.com/display.php?id=2357
The eagles have landed
Auburn Journal-7/21/09
By Megan Sanders
Sightings of at least two bald eagles have been reported recently in the greater Auburn area.
“I have seen an immature bald eagle in the Coloma area earlier in the year,” said Noah Rucker-Triplett, El Dorado County River Recreation supervisor.
Dozens of river rafters also reported seeing a mature bald eagle near Salmon Falls Bridge earlier this month.
“They are making a comeback,” Rucker-Triplett said.
Bald eagles have also been reported nesting in the higher elevation reservoirs.
One site in particular is Slab Creek Reservoir, which is located on the upper South Fork of the American River and is a 4.5-mile long reservoir.
Rucker-Triplett said that a nest has been seen about seven miles up.
Bald eagles are a part of the food chain cycle and their reappearance is an encouraging sign, said Steve Rothert, the California Field Office Director of American Rivers Conservation.
“Bald Eagles play an important role in terms of helping to retain and circulate nutrients in watersheds.” Rothert said.
Fish are their primary source of food and Rothert said that the resurfacing of the bald eagles suggests that there is a better supply of fish in the rivers.
“American Rivers and our partners are working to bring back salmon and steelhead,” Rothert said.
He also said that the eagles’ initial disappearance was symptomatic of a sick ecosystem and their comeback represents an improvement in those ecosystems.
There is still a nesting pair up at the Stumpy Meadows Reservoir and many people have reported seeing the eagles, said Bill Prior Sr., founder of Auburn Outdoor Sports.
One pair is nesting in one of the tall trees by the water. Stumpy Meadows Reservoir is in the El Dorado National Forest.
The birds at Stumpy Meadows have been there since 2005, said Kevin Roberts, wildlife biologist for Sierra Pacific Industries. He said that he monitors the pair on a yearly basis.
“I have not been out this year to see if they have been successful,” Roberts said.
He said that in the last four years they have produced two young, but last year they only had one in the nest.
The young generally stay around until October, even after the parents leave. The young then leave and go somewhere else.
Roberts said that the birds like to nest within two miles of a food source because it takes less energy to carry the fish back to the nest.
“I have seen them pick out a 14-inch trout,”Roberts said.
He said that they catch fish which are close to the surface so that they do not use up all of their energy.
We just found a nesting pair at the Hell Hole Reservoir last year, said Claudia Funari, the wildlife biologist at the Georgetown ranger station.
“It is surprising to find them there,”Funari said.
The lake freezes over in the winter and according to Funari the eagles do not like to nest near a place where they cannot fish.
Funari also said that there are a few more pairs that are in the forest. Some are nesting at Jenkinson Reservoir and some are at Union Valley Reservoir.
Bald Eagles are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The acts protect the nests of the birds as well as the birds themselves.
Violations come with hefty fines. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act has a fine of $15,000 and is considered a misdemeanor. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act has a fine of $100,000, imprisonment for a year, or both for the first offense.
Roberts said they have had some illegal camping in the area, but it has not disturbed the nesting birds.#
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