Posted on 04/09/2006 6:26:11 AM PDT by SmithL
Flood-fighting crews and state water officials will work feverishly for the next 36 hours to keep the San Joaquin River from cresting over its banks.
At the end of that period, a huge pulse of water from the rain-bloated river is expected to push its way into the channels and sloughs of the southern Delta near Stockton and Tracy.
Flood watchers fear the water will punch holes in the state's aging levee system or overtop the earthen berms to flood towns, roads and agricultural fields.
"The break between storms has given us the opportunity to do preparations and pre-positioning without getting drenched," Department of Water Resources spokesman Earle Cummings said Saturday.
Saturday's cloudy but mostly dry skies were expected to give way to showers today.
To brace for the high water, DWR has placed along the San Joaquin River's banks California Conservation Corps crews and supplies of plastic tarps, sand bags, four-wheel-drive vehicles, rain coats and other flood fighting essentials.
Also, the department had set up four incident command posts as of early Saturday evening and were organizing more.
"We're hoping that by having things ready we can react to a troubled spot before it fails," Cummings said.
Most of the unusually large amount of water headed for the Delta originated in the swollen lakes and reservoirs of the Sierra Nevada. It's being released from dams and spilling out into rivers and streams and by Monday should arrive in the southern Delta.
"There's a good chance we'll be responding to seepage sites and boils in the levees," Cummings said. "There will be very, very full stages at the bottom end."
The high flows have already caused flooding on their way downstream. The San Joaquin River burst over its banks Friday at Newman in Stanislaus County, forcing 50 residents of a trailer park to evacuate.
"We're hoping that while it's not actively raining, the water will trickle down to the lower end without spilling over the sides (of the river) and spilling over the sides is what we're worried about," he said.
Levee districts along the San Joaquin River and in the Delta are preparing for the runoff by running inspection patrols during high and low tides. In Contra Costa County, the sheriff's marine patrol and the department's helicopter are also out searching for troubled spots.
"We've had the high water all week long and we're expecting it all weekend and the first few days of next week," said Paul Harper, manager of the district that maintains Bethel Island's levees.
"The levees are doing fine. We repaired all of the storm damage from New Year's. They're saturated from all the water we've had, but they're doing fine," he said. "If there was a storm that was whipping up waves and winds blowing 50 to 60 miles per hour, then there would be a higher level of concern, but right now it's not that bad."
One wonders if it is a deliberate hustle and a means to clear out the delta so that the enviros can have it. From the article:
It (the pulse of water) is being released from dams and spilling out into rivers and streams and by Monday should arrive in the southern Delta.
They're trying to get rid of their stored water so that they have capacity to adsorb the runoff from a warm spring rain on the snow-pack. One wonders, however, if they couldn't have released it more slowly starting in mid March when they knew they had plenty of stored snow.
The farm we lived on near San Joaquin had a artesian well until pumping lowered the water level...
which will only matter to the rest of the Country if they want to eat.
Bingo.
The Bureau of Reclamation is under pressure from the WhiteHouse,
who is under pressure from it's large, Kern County, agribusiness donors,
who are Friant-Kern Canal water users.
These donor/users demand that the storage capacity behind Friant Dam be constantly maximized,
in lieu of the pending litigation brought against their irrigation interests, by green interests,
to divert water from Friant-Kern back into the channel to maintain the salmon stock.
The irony is that one of our fellow Freepers pasted the obligatory "Bush did it", as introduction to a similar thread yesterday. Being from NorCal and apparently not familiar with water politicis in CenCal, he simply didn't realize the gravity of his jest.
The Bureau lost control of the reservoir for only about 9 hours last Sunday. They waited until the last moment and then began panic releases after a warm rain hit last week. The man-made releases and the natural inflow into the channel from two tributaries below Friant, brought the river to a little less than 12K af/s on Saturday, still below flood stage. When the dam topped Sunday at about 9 am, combined flows jumped to around 14K af/s, still below flood stage but the increased water level in the river channel west of SR99 placed pressure on old levees.
A little water is still leaking from around the flood gate seals, enough to film for the evening news, but it is not topping the gates. Releases at the dam presently exceed inflow at the mouth. That may change after Wednesday when another moderate amount of rain is forecast for the San Joaquin drainage. Snow levels will be 2000-3000 feet lower than last week but it won't take much since Millerton Lake storage has been maximized awaiting the final, federal court decision on downstream flow diversions to enhance salmon migration.
The March storms were pretty impressive. We've had lots of rain; the timing was horrible.
The fruit trees were in bloom and the bees were not able to do their jobs. I don't think they have an estimate yet of the damage to crops.
The cotton growers have not been able to get into the fields to plant.
The water being released from Millerton lake has produced some spectacular pictures. The weather service has a flood warning for below Friant until Monday afternoon. We have been getting this message for the past several days.
More rain is forecast for next week. The canals have been full for the past week.
For a minute there, I thought Teddy was out in California doing cannonballs.
I don't think there will be a problem. I have not heard of the hiway flooding. I think it is just the campgrounds and homes down near the river.
Will you be here the week after EAster or this next week? We have been planning to get away this week but with the weather we've changed plans and now trying to decide where to spend a couple of days.
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