bobm
Garden Master
Hey Marshal... with all of the rain falling in N Cal. and the flooding scenes hiting the TV screens... are you keeping your nose and gardens above the water ?
Lots of rain = flood
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897tgigvib
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Lake came up fast. In this system, really complex, all reserevoirs except lake sonoma were in sync.
Today we had to release and the lake went down 4 feet vertical in 24 hours. That's a lot of water, so Hopland experienced flooding, and lake sonoma is going to have to go over 100% like it or not, and the folks in chaerge there will likely be looking for less responsible work real soon.
Meantime, the good folks at van arsdale diversion are making tough decisions about how much water gores to the russian and how much to the eel. Our pillsbury release is to prepare for the next wave of storms, Mendocino is about maxed out and releasing, and sonoma will be spillway releasing for some time...with new people in charge i hope. Last I heard, Guerneville is doing alright with minor flooding here and there.
Pillsbury to van arsdale
at arsdale some water goes to russian river, some to eel river
russian river to Lake Mendocino
Mendocibno down the russian to lake sonoma
Lake sonoma down the russian to the pacific at jenner
a portion of height of each reservoir is flood control determinations
the rest is water storage determination, and that part is by the book.
Lake sonoma failed to release water to prepare for these storms which were well predicted. pillsbury was already low and ready mendocino was moderate, and van arsdale is not a srtorage reservoir, but is the diversion pressure level.
Complex, but i do have a grip on it, being the now senior caretaker here in the basin.
My rain gauge broke, but before this storm i set an empty 5 gallon bucket out. it is now 1 inch from full.
Today we had to release and the lake went down 4 feet vertical in 24 hours. That's a lot of water, so Hopland experienced flooding, and lake sonoma is going to have to go over 100% like it or not, and the folks in chaerge there will likely be looking for less responsible work real soon.
Meantime, the good folks at van arsdale diversion are making tough decisions about how much water gores to the russian and how much to the eel. Our pillsbury release is to prepare for the next wave of storms, Mendocino is about maxed out and releasing, and sonoma will be spillway releasing for some time...with new people in charge i hope. Last I heard, Guerneville is doing alright with minor flooding here and there.
Pillsbury to van arsdale
at arsdale some water goes to russian river, some to eel river
russian river to Lake Mendocino
Mendocibno down the russian to lake sonoma
Lake sonoma down the russian to the pacific at jenner
a portion of height of each reservoir is flood control determinations
the rest is water storage determination, and that part is by the book.
Lake sonoma failed to release water to prepare for these storms which were well predicted. pillsbury was already low and ready mendocino was moderate, and van arsdale is not a srtorage reservoir, but is the diversion pressure level.
Complex, but i do have a grip on it, being the now senior caretaker here in the basin.
My rain gauge broke, but before this storm i set an empty 5 gallon bucket out. it is now 1 inch from full.
Carol Dee
Garden Master
OMG that is a LOT of water. Our thoughts are with you.
baymule
Garden Master
You take care and stay dry. We have a large lake here that floods from time to time. Water has to be let out of the resivior or the dam will bust. Downstream folks get mighty unhappy.
897tgigvib
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Scott dam was built around the years 1924. It's the dam that creates lake Pillsbury where I live. This particular dam is very much smaller than Hoover/Boulder dam, but was designed as a working model and techniques and tools system perfection and practice for that much larger dam on the Colorado. Scott dam is a small version of sorts of Boulder dam.
In its 90 years of existence it has shown no sign of bursting, though it is true I've seen what appears to be seepage. I tell folks not to worry, I fixed that crack with a wad of high quality gum. That all the other cracks I have under control with old mattresses weighted down and held with ropes, and that everything will be alright unless too many of those ropes break. Don't worry, those are good marine quality ropes!
Actually, every other year or so, lake Pillsbury gets to 104%. How? Some may ask. When the spillway is open under the gates, the water flows over the gates.
The height of the gates at their highest is where the 100% mark is. When water flows over the gates at their highest, the top of the water is a few inches over that mark.
At that height, which we call elevation, each inch represents a lot more water than the next inch below, and that inch below represents a lot more water than the next inch under that one, and continuing.
So far this storm sequence has ended, and even with the error in judgment the Lake Sonoma Dam people made, the downstream flooding at Hopland was minimal, and so was the flooding near Guerneville minimal, thanks to the efforts of the Van Arsdale diversion and Coyote Valley dam crews, and our ability to retain most of the water that came in here at Pillsbury. We never reached 100%, but did get to 90% capacity. We had 14% to go before we'd need to open without fail. We opened at 90%, and are now back to 80%.
About the Lake Sonoma failure to do a pre storm release, well, a more responsible policy needs to have implementation without failure of performance. How's that for putting it politely?
In its 90 years of existence it has shown no sign of bursting, though it is true I've seen what appears to be seepage. I tell folks not to worry, I fixed that crack with a wad of high quality gum. That all the other cracks I have under control with old mattresses weighted down and held with ropes, and that everything will be alright unless too many of those ropes break. Don't worry, those are good marine quality ropes!
Actually, every other year or so, lake Pillsbury gets to 104%. How? Some may ask. When the spillway is open under the gates, the water flows over the gates.
The height of the gates at their highest is where the 100% mark is. When water flows over the gates at their highest, the top of the water is a few inches over that mark.
At that height, which we call elevation, each inch represents a lot more water than the next inch below, and that inch below represents a lot more water than the next inch under that one, and continuing.
So far this storm sequence has ended, and even with the error in judgment the Lake Sonoma Dam people made, the downstream flooding at Hopland was minimal, and so was the flooding near Guerneville minimal, thanks to the efforts of the Van Arsdale diversion and Coyote Valley dam crews, and our ability to retain most of the water that came in here at Pillsbury. We never reached 100%, but did get to 90% capacity. We had 14% to go before we'd need to open without fail. We opened at 90%, and are now back to 80%.
About the Lake Sonoma failure to do a pre storm release, well, a more responsible policy needs to have implementation without failure of performance. How's that for putting it politely?
