Please make the following release changes to the American River
Date Time From (cfs) To (cfs)
2/12/2019 0700 10,000 12,500
2/12/2019 0800 12,500 15,000
Comment: Flood control operations.
Issued by: Peggy Manza
Please make the following release changes to the American River
Date Time From (cfs) To (cfs)
2/12/2019 0700 10,000 12,500
2/12/2019 0800 12,500 15,000
Comment: Flood control operations.
Issued by: Peggy Manza
I was thinking about giving it a try tomorrow but that seems kind of high.
I thought the whole point of the emergency spillway was to avoid releases like this.
I was talking to a friend about this yesterday. And we where wondering the same thing. :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Troutsource
So much for the winter steelhead run. Might be fun in my kayak though.
Eric
The Pineapple Express forecast may have gotten the flood control managers worried.
I’m not sure how it could? I would guess they are hoping to minimize releases in the high to very high stages (more in the realm of 50,000?). Although 15,000cfs is a very high flow from our perspective as anglers, it a very minor bump in flows given the size of the basin and the predicted storm intensity. All three major forks are predicted to surpass 20,000cfs, with substantially more from all the minor tributaries below those gauges. Those predictions are very rough, and could be substantially higher, or lower depending on snow levels, but it’s smart to err a bit on the side of caution; especially this early in the season with ample potential for more severe storms in the coming weeks. Given that expected inflow could easily be 5 times the release, I’d say it’s pretty unrealistic to expect them to hold any more back.Quote:
Originally Posted by Troutsource
JB
YEP... and the new spillway was built for scenarios like one which could play out in 3-5 days. Folsom is at 64% of capacity. If the storm turns warm, even at 5,000 ft elevation, one hell of a lot of snow is going to melt and Folsom Lake could see incoming flows upwards of 50,000 cfs.Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonB
As much as I do not like DWR and its historical indifference to our fisheries and delta ecology... I give them props for how they have managed the releases at Nimbus Dam for the last 2 years. It's difficult to pattern weather and precipitation when the weather gods give back-to-back record years of snow following 5 years of drought.
When all is said and done, there will still be PLENTY of water this summer due to the HUGE base of snow in the Sierra Mt Range and the fact that ALL of our reservoirs will be at or above annual average in a matter of weeks.
On a brighter note... Thankfully, Gavin Newsom announced his opposition to the Waterfix (twin tunnels) Project today. Likely, MWD will mostly foot the bill for ONE tunnel which is better than what many expected...
Be grateful we are having abundant rain and snow this season and particularly in February.
As far as destruction of redds... Studies show that steelhead are well-adapted to high-water years and even flood events and that eggs remain safely beneath the gravel until the alevin stage.
How often do you catch an ADULT steelhead with an adipose fin on the American River anyway? Rarely... because natural spawning in the AR accounts for less than 1% (and very probably a small fraction of that) of the returning adult steelhead population.
For every 'wild' (there actually is no such thing on the AR) steelhead which is displaced by heavy flows, I guarantee there are at least 100 if not more hatchery smolts released in the river which will survive the trip out to sea BECAUSE the flows were 15,000 to 60,000 cfs.
CDFW will begin releasing the 435,000 steelhead smolts any day now and escapement 2-3 years from now will be improved again, because of the high flows.
We are having a banner year on the AR this year (I'm pretty sure Nimbus hatchery has welcomed over 3,000 fish up the ladder by now...) because in March of 2016 we had 20,000 cfs to carry the hatchery smolts out to sea and in February and March of 2017 we had 36,000 cfs and 64,000 cfs respectively.
In the case of precipitation and healthy fisheries... Less is NOT more~