Category Archives: safety

safety, Water

Fourth Man Believed Dead In Folsom Lake Speedboat Wreck

A fourth man was on a speedboat that capsized in Folsom Lake on Saturday afternoon and is likely dead, authorities said, making the crash one of the deadliest in the lake’s history.

Efforts to find the men turned up nothing Sunday. Officials called off the search in the early afternoon because of high winds.

State Parks officials identified the men as Toby Strauch, 54; James Strauch, 47; Jake Jacobs, 53; and Jon Smith, 48. Authorities said that all lived in the Sacramento region but did not specify their hometowns.

Investigators aren’t sure what caused the accident. When park rangers arrived at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, they found a 40-foot speedboat capsized. They’ve been searching for the men ever since. Determining the cause of the accident has been a secondary priority, said Folsom Lake State Recreation Area Superintendent Richard Preston.

Witnesses initially said three men were on the boat, but authorities later confirmed the boat had four passengers.

Officials now seek to recover, instead of rescue.

“This is probably the single most fatalities in my time doing this,” Preston said, who has worked at the lake more than 10 years.

Boating accidents happen frequently on Folsom Lake, but deaths are rare. About 30 accidents occurred in 2011 and 2012 at Folsom Lake, according to the latest state data, with 25 injuries and one death.

More than 25 rangers, emergency workers and divers scoured the lake for the men Sunday, the second consecutive day when wind hampered their efforts.

Whitecaps chopped the surface of Folsom Lake as teams struggled to hold their boats steady enough to search for the missing men. The craft used anchors weighing as much as 60 pounds, and were still unable to hold their positions.

More at SacBee.com >>>

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/05/11/6396819/fourth-man-believed-dead-in-folsom.html#storylink=cpyMMore at SacBee.com

 

Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

American River Flow To Rise For Salmon

Water flows in the American River are scheduled to increase through the Sacramento region starting tonight to help salmon and steelhead.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Folsom and Nimbus dams on the river, will maintain the increased flow for three days to help juvenile steelhead and Chinook salmon migrate downstream, and to help improve in-river conditions for young steelhead.

The flow will gradually increase from the current 500 cubic feet per second starting at about 9 p.m., and will reach 1,500 cfs by 11 p.m. Flows will remain at that level until early Friday morning, when the volume will be gradually reduced to 800 cfs.

More at Modbee.com >>>

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/04/22/3303052/american-river-flow-to-rise-for.html#storylink=cpyM

 

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

On Northern California Rivers, Good Forecast For Summer Rafting

The story of this summer’s prospects for rivers, rafting and trout fishing might sound like a yarn right out of the “Outdoors Department of Yer Eyes Ain’t Foolin’ Ya.”

For the American and Tuolumne rivers, NorCal’s top rafting rivers, the forecasts look great.

What? Aren’t we in the worst drought in a gazillion years? Isn’t the snowpack (and the melt-off to come) about 30 percent of normal in the high country? And won’t the rivers be rendered into trickles by July?

Well, in many cases, nope.

In a reversal of what is logical thought for many, conditions and flows on several rivers will be spectacular into summer for rafting, fishing and camping. And no, yer eyes ain’t foolin’ ya.

It’s a surprise twist to the way things work in California, even in a drought.

It rained enough in February and March to replenish, in part, several watersheds and reload many of the smaller, high-country reservoirs. Enough, that is, for water managers to release water from them and make their deliveries this summer.

The timing of the flows has been worked out to benefit recreation. So when those water deliveries are made, rafters will have a chance to float on them.

One of the best examples is the San Francisco Water Department, which met with outfitters last week to work out flow regimes out of Hetch Hetchy and Cherry reservoirs for the Tuolumne River.

Everybody wins.

“Despite a historic drought in California, we’re fortunate to have a number of rivers that get water from upstream reservoirs,” said Nate Rangel of California Outdoors, a trade association that represents California’s river outfitters. “That means we’re going to have great water all summer long.”

“On the Lower American River (below Folsom Lake and Lake Natomas), the Bureau of Reclamation is tied into the federal water project and they have to deliver water,” said Randy Calvin of River Rat Rafting in Fair Oaks. “It will run right past where we rent rafts and give people a chance to float down the river on it.”

More at SFGate.com >>>

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

american_river_cover500

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 >>>