🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 14 Feb 1997 15:17:37 -0800, rpenny@ix.netcom.com (Richard
Penny) wrote:

>In article <5e03n7$6i6@engnews1.Eng.Sun.COM>, susans@Eng.Sun.COM wrote:
>
>> In article <dopowell-1202972221450001@1.1.1.1>,
>> David O. Powell <dopowell@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>
>> >I frankly find Mr. Menten's question ridiculous.  Siltation of large
>> >reservoirs in the Sierra Nevada is not a significant problem.
>> 
>> Excuse me? Wishful thinking on your part that siltation is not a problem.
>
>Good examples of siltation problems in California's reservoirs snipped.
>
>I would also reference an article by Nancy Vogel in the January 29th
>Sacramento Bee, titled "Storm Debris Shrinks Folsom Lake Space." The
>article points out that silt introduced in the 1986 high water event shrank
>Folsom reservoir's capacity from 1.01 million acre-feet to 9.77 million
>acre-feet. This year's storms are thought to have added sufficient
>additional silt to reduce the reservoir's capacity further. 
>
>Tom Aiken, area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation is quoted as saying, 
>   
>"In somebody's lifetime, lakes like Folsom will have to be lowered and
>excavated if people decide to restore capacity."
>
>"It definitely will have an impact that people will feel in the future. For
>floods, for storage, for everything."
>
>Professor Jeffrey Mount, in _California Rivers and Streams: The Conflict
>Between Fluvial Process and Land Use_, provides a very interesting
>discussion not only on sedimentation within reservoirs, but also on the
>effects of dams on the profiles of rivers below the dam. He states, "To put
>it simply, our reservoirs are filling up with sediment."  Two examples that
>he provides are Sweasey Dam on the Mad River, which is completely filled,
>and Scott Dam, which forms Lake Pillsbury on the Eel River, that is losing
>its capacity rapidly, with 25%  filled so far.
>
>-- 
>Richard Penny   *    Development Director    *   Friends of the River
>128 J St., 2nd Floor * Sacramento, CA  95814  *  916-442-3155 (voice)
>rpenny@ix.netcom.com * www.friendsoftheriver.org * 916-442-3396 (fax)

Sweasey Dam was completely filled - then a few years ago it was blown
up and no longer exists.  In the interest of accuracy I must point out
that neither the Mad nor Eel are Sierra rivers - they are coast range
rivers.
--
Bill Hogoboom
Eureka, California