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| The usual placid waters of Lake Natoma bolster a fast current now with releases coming down from Folsom Dam. |
Drawing its name from a weather phenomenon that periodically heads east in long and narrow bands of water vapor formed over an ocean adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands this past weather system was one of season's strongest in series of storms this winter.
“The (Pineapple) Express is no joke,” Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland told Reuters. "We're talking 3 to 5 inches of rain in San Francisco and coastal areas."
Those torrential rains beginning last Tuesday shattered daily precipitation records in Sacramento and led to flash-flood watches across the region. Water releases from Nimbus and Folsom dams increased as the storm moved through the region.
While at Lake Tahoe a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service in Reno remained in effect for much of the week as some ski resorts on Thursday morning did report over a foot of fresh snow.
"I’m not only looking forward to some bigger flows in the rivers this spring during the peak runoff but also longer and more sustained flows into the summer as the snow melts!" said Lindsay, "My friends and I have our eyes on some epic whitewater missions and adventures this spring.
The biggest winner however just might be California's water supply which has face uncertainty over the past decade. The snowpack, where the state gets one-third of its water supply, always plays a pivotal role as it slowly melts filling the state's reservoirs, rivers and streams. In wet years, the runoff begins in April and can continue to flow through into August. But in years with less snow accumulation, therefore less precipitation, the runoff can run out as early as May.
The latest statistics from the California Department of Water as of Wednesday, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada has an astounding snow water equivalent of 136 percent of historical average for this time of year. That's a big jump from a month ago when the snowpack was at just 69 percent and huge from just last year when it was at only 18 percent of normal.
Californian boaters are cautiously optimistic those numbers will translate into longer high flows and even bigger summer rapids.
"I'm hopeful this year will be better than last. December was drier than normal, but January was above average, so we're off to a good start," said Shingle Springs, Ca., based photographer and paddler Martin Beebee, "I'm looking forward to having more time to run some of the rivers that are really dependent on the winter rain and snow, such as the North Fork American. The more rain and snow."
Lindsay agrees even though he says that typically with these bigger snow packs it makes access difficult in the higher elevations until much later.
"The weather quite a bit nicer and it helps spread out the season a bit more," said Lindsay, "Also, this will help fill the reservoirs so we can have guaranteed world-class commercial rafting 7 days a week."
Although hopeful, Beebee emphasized the uncertainty of the weather and a past history of droughts over several years.
"It's so hard to tell anymore what's going to happen," said Beebee, "Call me a pessimist, but it could just as easily stop raining and snowing after this next storm and leave us high and dry again. 2017 was really an anomaly in the last decade or so when we've mostly been dry"
Landmark Conservation Bill Protects Nearly 620 Miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers
In a landmark conservation bill, the US Senate earlier this week, passed legislation to protect nearly 620 miles of wild and scenic rivers across seven states from damming and other development. With bipartisan support, the bill is the biggest step forward for Wild and Scenic River designations in nearly a decade."The overwhelming local support for these protections are the reason why they are moving through Congress despite the gridlock that usually dominates Congress when it comes to natural resource issues." wrote David Moryc the Senior Director Wild and Scenic Rivers and Public Lands Policy for American Rivers on their website this week.
Some details on the rivers protected compiled by American Rivers:
- 256 miles of new designations the for tributaries for the Rogue River, the Molalla, and Elk Rivers in Oregon;
- 110 miles of the Wood-Pawcatuck Rivers in Rhode Island and Connecticut;
- 76 miles of Amargosa River, Deep Creek, Surprise Canyon and other desert streams in California;
- 63 miles of the Green River in Utah;
- 62 miles of the Farmington River and Salmon Brook in Connecticut;
- 52.8 miles of the Nashua, Squannacook and Nissitissit Rivers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Tour boat will change kayaking at Pictured Rocks
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| Courtesy of Moran Iron Works Inc. |
Tourism companies on big lakes such as Lake Tahoe will surely take note.
