Rushing Water Fears Mitigated
High Sacramento River Runoff Requires Emergency Measures
Redding Record Searchlight - 4/29/03
By Alex Breitler, staff writer

With the threat of more rain and little room to store it, officials on Monday upped flows from Keswick Dam to levels that haven't been seen in about three years.

The move forced Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District workers to venture onto a slippery Caldwell Park diversion dam and make emergency adjustments allowing torrents of water to flow freely down the swelling Sacramento River.

"The biggest concern is the risk factor - taking a crew and putting them up there on a day like today, in these high flows and the wind and the rain," said Dee Swearingen, general manager of the irrigation district.

But it had to be done. Lake Shasta is 98 percent full and officials worry whether it can accommodate much more runoff.

Beginning at 4 p.m. Monday, the Bureau of Reclamation planned to increase releases to 30,000 cubic feet per second. That's roughly 224,440 gallons of water rushing down the river each second - about two-thirds the water a typical family would use in an entire year.

No flooding was expected as a result of the rising river, though some trailers at an RV park in the Park Marina Drive area were moved to higher ground.

"It's abnormal," said Larry Ball, a bureau operations division chief. "But it's not extremely high."

Park Marina near Cypress Avenue floods at 42,000 cfs, a city of Redding spokeswoman said. Maintenance crews planned to keep an eye on the street, but it would remain open, she said.

Swearingen said his office was told of the bureau's plans Monday morning. River flows were temporarily dropped, allowing six workers in life jackets and safety belts to access the diversion dam.

Brandishing javelinlike pike poles, the workers yanked up about 150 of the dam's 650 boards, freeing up room for the expected onslaught of water.

"In recent history, we've never had any (adjustments) of this magnitude," said Swearingen.

The boards, which divert water into a canal feeding irrigation land, were installed for the agricultural season on March 24 - long before anyone could have known the weather April would bring.

"When you're trying to outguess Mother Nature, you're going to lose," Swearingen said.

Law enforcement was notified of the rising water, which could remain high for about a week. While no problems were expected, officials warned that more storms could add to the flow.

Lake Shasta hasn't been this high since 1998, when officials allowed water to spill over the top of the dam for the first time in 15 years.

While 30,000 cfs is a lot of water, releases have gone as high as 79,000 cfs in the past, Ball said.

"It's one of those things we were hoping we wouldn't have to do," he said. "But the lake's brimming to the top, and you've got to do something."

Part of the problem is the forecast.

The National Weather Service predicted "numerous" showers Monday night and Tuesday, and rain returning on Friday. Snow was expected to coat the mountains above 3,000 feet with perhaps 6 to 10 new inches.

Even before last week's rains, the Northern Sierra boasted a snowpack 113 percent of normal. And Redding's seen precipitation that's 102 percent of average.

The diversion dam boards removed Monday will be replaced once the river recedes, Swearingen said.

It's a lot of work, "but we're pleased with the precip, there's no doubt about it," he said.

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