The Russian River is flowing pretty high here in Sonoma County. Weather report is for more rain for the next few weeks. My winter rain bike is a Bruce Gordon with Sim Works fenders, and it’s getting plenty of use. Pictures to follow.
The national news outlets are covering the storms and flooding here, with a lot of reports from the sites of my favorite rides - along the Russian River, Guerneville, Monte Rio, Coleman Valley, Bodega Bay, Jenner. The flip side of all this rain and potential flooding is that we are still in drought. Another one of my favorite rides is from Healdsburg to Lake Sonoma, up Rock Pile Road. Lake Sonoma has been shockingly low for the last few years, and we really, really need the rain. I just hope the flooding doesn’t do too much damage to folks in the low lying areas. I’ll ride close to home today, steel bike + fat tires + cantilevers + good fenders, with screaming hi-viz rain gear thrown in for good measure. And yes, everyone please stay safe. Max Beach Santa Rosa CA On Friday, January 6, 2023 at 4:36:51 PM UTC-8 Collin A wrote: > Brunchers, > > Happy "Storm" Season from Sacramento, currently sitting at a lovely 30 ft > (average, NAVD88) with the nearby American River potentially cresting at 40 > ft if the current forecasts hold. This post may be a bit off-topic, but it > is riv/bike related because I have been doing some inspection rounds of the > levees on my Appaloosa, much to the confusion of my coworkers and the > public I see out there! > > Some Background: > Like most of the rivers in California, the American River (and Sacramento > that the American feeds) is not a "natural" river and instead dammed at > several locations along it's length and constrained for hundreds of miles > by levees of varying levels of 'integrity.' The levees tend to contribute > to flood risk, somewhat counterintuitively, because they constrain and > limit how wide a river can go, thereby making the river run narrower, > taller, and faster and causing more flooding if (or rather when) a levee > breaks. The dams, specifically the Folsom Dam, serve to capture the more > erratic rainfall and stream flows and later release them over a longer > period to avoid damaging the levees and flooding the cities downstream. > > Currently, Folsom is releasing about 190,000 gallons a second (or about 1 > olympic swimming pool every 3 seconds) in anticipation of the next several > storms to make sure there is enough space to capture all of that water > (before they have to release that volume gradually to then make space for > another big storm). They will likely continue to release more water as the > storms continue, and they are currently scheduled to release 40% more > starting tomorrow. For a point of reference, the levees are designed to > handle at least 4 times that amount, and the dam is designed for another 5 > times more! > > Bike Stuff: > I managed to get a ride out before this most recent storm and got a few > photos of condition of the river paths and river itself. I'll be doing a > similar lap early next week when the river rises another 10 feet or so and > will likely try to make it a weekly occurrence as long as the storms keep > up and I don't get called to an emergency response. > [image: PXL_20230103_183538984.jpg] > One of the boat ramps underneath Howe Ave, currently under water. > > [image: PXL_20230103_183305652.jpg] > Looking downstream from Watt Ave bridge > > Resources for those in the area related to forecasting: > River forecasts: CNRFC - California Nevada River Forecast Center > (noaa.gov) <https://cnrfc.noaa.gov/> > Reservoir Release Schedules: CDEC - LastRes (ca.gov) > <https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/lastRes> > > Stay safe out there, > Collin in Floodramento > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/61cbdc48-0d20-4514-b7ec-0babaf61ee08n%40googlegroups.com.
