Alarm: Folsom Reservoir Being Drained Down; "delta Salinity"
#1
Posted 11 June 2015 - 12:20 PM
#2
Posted 11 June 2015 - 12:40 PM
The lake looks beautiful right there!
#3
Posted 11 June 2015 - 02:10 PM
On the CBS13 news at noon today I saw a segment about this. A regulator at the Placer County Water Agency said that if the Bureau of Reclamation continues to release water from the lake at this rate, by September we could run out of water.
http://sacramento.cb...eases-continue/
#4
Posted 11 June 2015 - 02:17 PM
Also being talked about on "Is the Drought Over?" thread.
#5
Posted 13 June 2015 - 08:00 AM
On the CBS13 news at noon today I saw a segment about this. A regulator at the Placer County Water Agency said that if the Bureau of Reclamation continues to release water from the lake at this rate, by September we could run out of water.
It seems this is due to water temperatures... I would assume that as Folsom Lake's water level drops, its temperature will rise... I'm not sure if/when Folsom would become as warm (or warmer) than Shasta, but at that point shouldn't they switch to releasing from Shasta?
#6
Posted 13 June 2015 - 02:21 PM
Shouldn't we reconsider "managing" ecological outflow? Let's face it. If there were no humans here right now, the delta, and the fish in it would not be getting ANY cold water as the snowpack is gone. We are artificially promoting continued survival of an existing ecosystem. The rivers in a drought would be shallower (and warmer), and the fish would either adapt or die. CA has had MANY droughts of varying durations including multi-century ones historically. There is no reason whatsoever to promote non-drought type flows into the delta at this time.
Weather changes, oceans rise and fall, glaciers advance and retreat. Why the insistence on keeping things at an artificially maintained, subjectively declared "perfect point?" Civilizations have died out due to long term weather changes. Heck, even the Sahara is getting greener once again. So what? Are we really so arrogant to think that we not only can, but should attempt to control the weather? LOL Good luck with that! But then again, that's what happens when you make emotional/political decisions without any historical or scientific basis...
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#7
Posted 13 June 2015 - 02:39 PM
Shouldn't we reconsider "managing" ecological outflow? Let's face it. If there were no humans here right now, the delta, and the fish in it would not be getting ANY cold water as the snowpack is gone. We are artificially promoting continued survival of an existing ecosystem. The rivers in a drought would be shallower (and warmer), and the fish would either adapt or die. CA has had MANY droughts of varying durations including multi-century ones historically. There is no reason whatsoever to promote non-drought type flows into the delta at this time.
Weather changes, oceans rise and fall, glaciers advance and retreat. Why the insistence on keeping things at an artificially maintained, subjectively declared "perfect point?" Civilizations have died out due to long term weather changes. Heck, even the Sahara is getting greener once again. So what? Are we really so arrogant to think that we not only can, but should attempt to control the weather? LOL Good luck with that! But then again, that's what happens when you make emotional/political decisions without any historical or scientific basis.
there are no easy answers or simple common sense fixes in this situation. if there were no people here, there wouldn't be a thousand agencies and users diverting water out of the rivers.
#8
Posted 13 June 2015 - 05:36 PM
As a boater I really hope they aren't being overly aggressive releasing water. We were tracking higher than last year up until last week.
-Robert
#9
Posted 13 June 2015 - 05:54 PM
If there were no people or dams here the fish would be able to swim to their spawning areas and be fine even in dry years. The salmon in the American river used to spawn high up in the mountains before the dams were built. We have destroyed so much habitat that we do have to artificially sustain a lot of things. Why should the fishing industry be allowed to fail instead of cutting back on planting even more almonds that we ship overseas? It's a complicated issue.
"CA has had MANY droughts of varying durations including multi-century ones historically"
That is true and the fish survived that before we screwed everything up. Let the scientists do their jobs.
#10
Posted 13 June 2015 - 06:11 PM
yeah, and its more than the fishing industry. its a species. a species that is part of a food chain. if the salmon cease to be, then other species will cease to be. it is an inconvenience to us, brown lawns, restricted watering, etc, but it is life or death to them.
#11
Posted 14 June 2015 - 02:43 PM
Boats out of the marina by June 21st this year, +/- a few days depending on how fast they drain the thing. And they are saying that the lake will be 5 mph by July 1. Bye Bye boat season!
#12
Posted 15 June 2015 - 07:16 AM
Boats out of the marina by June 21st this year, +/- a few days depending on how fast they drain the thing. And they are saying that the lake will be 5 mph by July 1. Bye Bye boat season!
Who said that? Up until a week ago we were tracking a higher lake level vs the same time last year. I"m a bit skeptical about the 5mph by July 1.
-Robert
#13
Posted 15 June 2015 - 07:27 AM
Who said that? Up until a week ago we were tracking a higher lake level vs the same time last year. I"m a bit skeptical about the 5mph by July 1.
-Robert
I think the 5 mph happens when the lake gets below 400 feet. We're at 417 now, and it looks like the outflow is still increasing so I'm not so skeptical about that July 1 date.
#14
Posted 15 June 2015 - 07:51 AM
Who said that? Up until a week ago we were tracking a higher lake level vs the same time last year. I"m a bit skeptical about the 5mph by July 1.
-Robert
Guess it depends on who you talk to. KCRA keeps spouting that you will have the pleasure of full speed for your boats ON July 4th which will be the last day for that. If you talk to the dock master it's what I said.
We'll see I guess.
#15
Posted 15 June 2015 - 07:59 AM
The lake is still getting increased flows on certain days. I assume that's from rain since the snowpack is gone.
I don't know about everyone else, but the days under 100 help with conserving water as far as landscape watering. I didn't have to water last Wednesday.
Once things heat up and if the thunderstorms stop, then I could see the lake level dropping very quickly if they keep up the current outflow levels.
Does anyone know what shape Shasta is in? It seemed like they got more precipitation north of us over the last few months.
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