Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 5, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Boat owners must wrap it up at Folsom Lake Marina
Sacramento Bee
Boats ordered out of Folsom Lake
Auburn Journal
Klamath’s fall run of chinook promising
Crescent City Triplicate
Fire crews gain on Tuolumne blaze
Modesto Bee
Knight Fire grows, nears containment lines
Sonora Union Democrat
Preparing for the worst
Drought, dry lightning create perfect recipe for more wildfires in state
Marysville Appeal-Democrat
Mussel task force disbanded
Ukiah Daily Journal
Council approves wetlands trade
Long Beach Press-Telegram
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Boat owners must wrap it up at Folsom Lake Marina
Sacramento Bee-8/5/09
It's still high summer, but marina managers are getting ready to roll up the docks at Folsom Lake two weeks earlier than expected because of dropping water levels.
Folsom Lake reservoir is currently at 426 feet, but the Bureau of Reclamation expects that by Aug. 25, the level will have dropped to 412 feet, the elevation at which all boats must be removed from their slips.
Managers at the Folsom Lake Marina at Brown's Ravine had hoped to allow boaters to leave hundreds of watercraft moored until Labor Day, but Ken Christensen, marina manager, was sending letters to 675 boat owners on Tuesday, telling them they need to remove their vessels by Aug. 25 – and to let their friends know too.
Still, thanks to late season rains that replenished the American River watershed that feeds Folsom Lake, it has been a pretty lengthy season for boating – something he never imagined at the end of February.
"Last year boats had to be out of the water July 1," said Christensen. "The year before that it was right after Aug. 1. It's been a good year."
Folsom Lake Marina at Brown's Ravine has 674 wet slips and 175 dry slips, and is part of the Folsom Lake State Recreational Area.#
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2083303.html
Boats ordered out of Folsom Lake
Auburn Journal-8/4/09
By Don Chaddock
Boat owners have been ordered to get their crafts out of Brown's Ravine Marina by Aug. 25 due to rapidly dropping water levels at Folsom Lake.
The order is coming from the marina's owners, on advice from the the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, because the lake's level is expected to be below 412 feet by the deadline.
"We're telling them it's going to happen," said Lynette Wirth, spokesperson for the bureau. "The marina owner makes the determination (to send notices to boat owners)."
The marina is located off of Green Valley Road near El Dorado Hills.
What started out as record high water levels at the end of June have since vanished. The lake dropped almost a foot per day during July, according to the bureau's Web site. The lake is currently at an elevation of 426 feet.
The measurement is "above sea level," not the depth of the lake. The lake crests at 480 feet and bottoms out at 205 feet, according to the bureau.
Boats were pulled from Folsom Lake the first week of July in 2008 due to low water levels and on Aug. 1 in 2007.
"We've had it much better than last year," Wirth said. "I have been told there are other places to put a boat in (at Folsom Lake)."
When the lake reaches an elevation of 412 feet, measured against the dam, the water is too low for boats to remain docked at Brown's Ravine Marina, she said.
"That's when they will start having problems with their boats," Wirth said.#
Klamath’s fall run of chinook promising
Crescent City Triplicate-8/1/09
By Kurt Madar
This fall’s Klamath River run of chinook salmon is projected to be slightly better than in recent years, experts say.
Their views reinforce a report released by the Klamath River Technical Advisory Team in the spring that estimated the number of 2-year-old Klamath-spawned chinook in the ocean at about 500,000.
California Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist Sara Borok said that while not all of these fish would be returning as 3-year-olds, the run would be slightly higher than average.
“We are predicting 131,000 to 139,000 3-year-olds in the Klamath,” Borok said. “If you consider that the average for the last 29 years was 121,000, this is a slightly higher run than normal.”
Borok said despite early optimism, last year’s run ended up being smaller than average, with less than 100,000 fish.
“We’ve had a couple of good years of ocean conditions for salmon,” Borok said to explain why the numbers are looking better.
Fish and game senior biologist Larry Hanson cautiously predicted last spring that the area might be looking at the start of an upswing in salmon populations.
Based on the current projections, Hanson is still optimistic nearly five months later.
“For the first time in two years we are going to have a recreational ocean salmon fishing season,” Hanson said.
The limited ocean fishing season runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7.
Commercial salmon fishing on the ocean will be closed for another season.
Added to the recreational fishing in the ocean is a large allocation for in-river sport fishing. Allocation is the number of adult salmon allowed to be harvested; in the case of sport fishing fishermen are allowed to take three year old fish.
“We have a record level allocation for this season on the Klamath,” Hanson said. “The in-river sport fishery has been allocated 30,800 fish and the tribes have been allocated 30,900.”#
http://www.triplicate.com/20090801106599/News/Local-News/Klamaths-fall-run-of-chinook-promising
Fire crews gain on Tuolumne blaze
Modesto Bee-8/5/09
Firefighters made significant progress Tuesday against the Knight fire, a 5,000-acre blaze burning north of Twain Harte in Tuolumne County.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported 45 percent containment after crews completed fire lines on the west end to the Stanislaus River.
They also set fires inside the lines to consume heavy brush and undergrowth in the rugged area near Mount Knight. The fire began July 26; a cause has not been determined.#
http://www.modbee.com/featured/story/806219.html
Knight Fire grows, nears containment lines
Sonora Union Democrat-8/4/09
By James Damschroder
Firefighters continue to make gains on containing the Knight Fire, burning about 10 miles north of Twain Harte in the Middle Fork Stanislaus River Canyon.
Currently, the blaze is 45 percent contained, said Duane Lyon, U.S. Forest Service fire information spokesman. The fire is expected to be fully contained by Aug. 9.
But the inferno, which ignited from an unknown cause on July 26, isn’t done spreading — 500 more acres were scorched between Monday morning and this morning, for a total of 5,078 acres burned so far.
The fire is spreading mostly west, closing in on fire lines etched into the forest, Lyon said.
Yesterday, firefighters performed burnout operations — where prescribed burns are lit along fire lines to reduce fuel loads and strengthen fire lines — along the fire’s western flank. They linked the western fire line with the river to the north, hoping to prevent the fire from spreading beyond these borders, Lyon said.
Fire personnel remain on the fire lines day and night. Today, crews were continuing to hold and improve fire lines and douse hot spots in already scorched areas, Lyon said.
The plan is to keep the fire in a 6,000-acre area bordered to the south by the river, the north by Contention Ridge, the west by Sandbar Flat Campground and to the east by Forebay.
Consistent drops in temperatures and rising humidity have helped firefighters execute this plan.
There are several new road closures in effect. Forest Road 4N16 is closed from its intersection with forest roads 2N63 to 4N01. Forest Road 4N17 is closed from its intersection with forest roads 2N63 to 4N16.
Also, Crandall Peak Staging Area, Sand Bar Flat Campground, Forest Road 4N14 west of Beardsley Road and 4N01 at Fraser Flat are closed.
Fines of up to $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization are possible for venturing into those closed areas.
Three crew members have suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze. Heavy smoke continues to impact outlying areas.
Agencies making up the 1,259 personnel fighting the fire include the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Cal Fire, Tuolumne County Fire, Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office, and the Office of Emergency Services.
The estimated cost of fighting the fire stands at $8.9 million.#
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/2009080497434/News/Local-News/Knight-Fire-grows-nears-containment-lines
Preparing for the worst
Drought, dry lightning create perfect recipe for more wildfires in state
Marysville Appeal-Democrat-8/5/09
As wildfires burn in heavily wooded Shasta County, federal and state fire officials are warning that a third year of drought means California could face one of its worst wildfire seasons in years.
Locally, fire officials are closely watching for lightning storms over the Sutter Buttes. Sutter County Fire Chief Dan Yager said the fire department is set to patrol the edges of the buttes as early as Thursday morning, in response to forecasts of possible lightning tonight in the Mid-Valley.
A weekend lightning storm sparked the latest round of blazes in Northern California that briefly threatened homes in the rugged, steep terrain of Shasta and Lassen counties.
On Tuesday, nearly 1,200 firefighters were at the scene of the wildfires in Shasta County, where flames burned more than 12 square miles, or 7,634 acres, were about 15 percent contained.
Another 800 firefighters were in nearby Lassen National Forest battling a series of wildfires covering 7 square miles, or 4,500 acres. Mandatory evacuation orders involving 130 homes were lifted, but the fires — also started by the weekend lightning — were only 5 percent contained.
At least five local fire agencies have sent engines and crew members to aid that firefighting effort. Four-person crews from Yuba City, Linda, Colusa, Sacramento River and Williams traveled to the Lassen National Forest starting Monday.
Peak fire season began July 1, but Janet Upton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said a severe, early spring fire in Santa Barbara has fire officials concerned about the intensity of this year's wildfire season.
"Experts believe that climate change may be influencing drought and therefore wildfire occurrences, but that's an ongoing study," she said.
There already have been 2,959 wildfires this year in California, up from 2,354 a year ago at this time, Upton said.
Meanwhile, any local lightning storm will have Sutter County firefighters on the watch, according to Yager — perhaps days after a storm, in case any bolts cause slow-smoldering fires in hard-to-reach spots on the buttes.
"If we have go into deep into the buttes we definitely will," he said Tuesday. "If lightning comes down, it can skunk around for a while until it gets the right conditions, and then you have a fire."
The South Butte was the scene of a blaze on July 14, when a bird was electrocuted on a power line that threw metal debris and ignited dry grasses. Flames spread to more than 50 acres before firefighters snuffed it out.
Though the state has seen more fires this year, less area has been destroyed than during the same period last year.
A total of 27.8 square miles, or 17,788 acres, have burned so far this year, compared to 530.2 square miles, or 339,325 acres, t this time last year, according to state fire officials.
Upton attributed the decrease to the fast, effective response of fire crews, even though state budget cuts have reduced the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's coffers by $27 million this year. The amount includes funds for a proposed exclusive contract for a DC-10 air tanker.
An executive order by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May allowed fire officials to secure and deploy the resources needed to battle wildfires. The governor also has exempted fire personnel from statewide furlough programs imposed to close a gaping budget deficit.
"The number of resources on the ground are the same, with the exception of that one DC-10," state fire department director Del Walters said. If the plane is needed, it can be taken out on a pay-per-use period, he added.
To the south, crews were able to fully contain a large fire in southern Monterey County, a day after it had prompted mandatory evacuations of about 200 people. Progress also was being made in Central California's Stanislaus National Forest, where a 7.8-square-mile blaze was about 45 percent contained. The causes of those fires remained under investigation.
No major damage to homes has been reported in the recent fires.
Upton encouraged prevention measures such as clearing dead brush near structures and positioning water tanks, but also warned homeowners to do their brush-clearing in the winter or spring.
"People use power equipment and will mow dead grass with a mower, and it's not meant to do it," she said. "You get too late in the year and you pick the wrong day, you run a risk of starting the thing you're trying to avoid."#
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/fire-85158-wildfires-county.html
Mussel task force disbanded
Ukiah Daily Journal-8/5/09
By Denise Rockenstein
The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to disband the Lake County Mussel Task Force, which was an ad hoc committee assigned to the specific task of implementing a local program for prevention of the invasive quagga and zebra mussels in Clear Lake.
After 18 months of work, the task force has delivered a leading-edge prevention program that, according to county staff, has been used as a template throughout the state.
"We accomplished what you wanted us to do. Now it's time to move on, in three ways," Department of Public Works, Water Resources Division Deputy Director Pam Francis said.
Francis said that the task force recommends (1) forming a small group, including two supervisors and additional key representatives to focus on state and federal resources; (2) assigning responsibility for program improvements; and (3) continuing the implementation of existing ordinances.
With the dissolution of the task force, the board moved to delegate ongoing functions through a subcommittee via the Lake County Invasive Species Council and appoint Biologist Greg Guisti as chair. The purpose of the appointment is to gain accountability in implementing and continuing the Invasive Species Prevention Program.
"I think Greg is the perfect person for this," District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said. "He'll come back to us and tell us what needs to be done."
The Water Resources Division was directed to continue day-to-day program operations, which includes inspector and screener training, inspection stickers and forms, management of contracts and participant agreements, data collection and analysis, outreach, budgeting and staffing to perform these duties.
Program improvements will be addressed through the subcommittee. Suggested categories include: recommendations related to programmatic issues such as fees, access/availability of inspections, outreach/awareness and enforcement; recommendations related to policies and protocols for inspection, re-inspection, quarantine and decontamination; and consideration of a multi-lake sticker inspection program to achieve consistency throughout the state.
The goal of forming the small group recommended by the task force is to focus on interagency collaboration through implementation of an action plan that includes making contact with state and federal agencies, legislators and other entities that could provide resources to build on the program's success and contribute to its sustainability over the long term.
The group will work toward arranging a summit of these government entities with members of the public invited to attend. Supervisors Denise Rushing and Anthony Farrington agreed to participate in the group.#
Council approves wetlands trade
Long Beach Press-Telegram-8/4/09
By Joe Segura
After several delays, the City Council rejected pleas for a 30-day delay Tuesday night and instead approved a controversial Los Cerritos Wetlands land-swap deal.
The deal - designed to salvage 37.7 acres of wetlands - was approved on a 5-4 vote, with councilmembers Gary DeLong, Dee Andrews, Val Lerch, Suja Lowenthal and Patrick O'Donnell supporting it, while councilmembers Rae Gabelich, Tonia Reyes-Uranga, Gerrie Schipske and Robert Garcia opposed it.
The land-swap deal has been hotly disputed by environmentalists who contend the proposal provides wetlands owner Tom Dean with an inflated value for the property. And even before the 10:30 p.m. vote there were vows that the deal would be challenged in court.
Proponents argued that the opportunity to save a big chunk of wetlands could evaporate - a theme that echoed a threat by wetlands owner Tom Dean earlier in the day.
Critics, however, insisted the deal would make it difficult for the city to sell the property to state wetlands restoration agencies without losing millions in the transaction.
The wetlands land-swap deal would exchange 37.7 acres of the Bixby Ranch portion of the wetlands in southeast Long Beach for the city's 13.4-acre Public Service Yard across town by the Los Angeles River.
Public Works Director Michael Conway, who delivered a report on the deal, came under attack for the lack of appraisals and for the significant remediation costs of the
oil fields.
The council first reviewed the plans last October - and Dean was reportedly ready to end the talks with city officials.
In an interview with the LBPost Web site, he said "either with a 'no' vote or a 'delay' vote, we are pulling our offer and stepping away, and we're going to pursue other opportunities."
Dean declined to specify details of the opportunities, but explained the land is zoned as developable - a status that is disputed by environmentalists.
In the LBPost interview, Dean also said that he and partner Jeff Berger would like to see the wetlands become a park.
"(Berger) and I have always thought it would be a good piece of real estate to somehow deliver to Long Beach so they could control it, and frankly I live here with my family and we would be honored to be the team that finally got it to the city," Dean told the community. "Let's hope that this all goes the right way, and let's hope that our kids are playing on that land in six months, because that's what's on the table."
However, an attempt to develop a soccer field in a wetlands buffer zone was recently blocked by the city and the state Coastal Commission.
And it's unlikely that such plans could get traction without a lengthy legal challenge.
Another thorny issue for environmentalists centers on the value of the Bixby Ranch land. They're fearful that the wetlands will be priced out of the state's reach.
The state Coastal Conservancy's south coast region maintains that acquisition and restoration are priority goals for the agency, but warns that the agency will not pay grant funds - once state resources become available again - beyond the fair appraisal price for the wetlands.#
http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_12994264
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