The Eel River has stopped flowing - 9/3/14 - Stienstra's on it - help blow it up

How about dried brown lawns in So Cal?
Do they even have water restrictions or even know there's a drought?

Sad! Thanks Eric for all the effort your putting in on the serious conditions of our rivers/lakes.

The sad fact of the matter is that for more than a century the city and ag interests have determined water policy and practices at the federal and state level in California. Ground water taking is not regulated at all and this is something that is done even in Texas.

In counties with ag production there has been nearly no effort to conserve water by the growers. Go up to Oroville and you will see orchards that are still being flood irrigated. Same applies to Monterey county. Go to San Luis Obispo county and the taking is for the vineyards which are taking so much groundwater that wells are running dry.

With the major rivers there are diversions for the potato farmers and the worst part is that the damns and canals and dikes are built and maintained by the taxpayers and not the beneficiaries. Corporate farmers are charged less than $1 per acre foot (over 300,000 gallons) for the water they get so small wonder they do not bother to converse.

We no longer have the sawmills which used to consume vast amounts of water and the pot farmers do not begin to use the amount of water or cause as much lasting environmental degradation as the logging companies have done in the past 40 years, but we do have the food processing plants that use a million gallons of water a day and the chip manufacturing plants that consume equal amounts of water each day. But nothing compares to the farmers and often the water they consume is exported out of the state as produce and milk and even out of the country as cheese and dehydrated milk and even alfalfa which are now being shipped to China by the container load.

Unfortunately it costs less than $10,000 to buy a local county supervisor's vote and only $25,000 to buy the vote of a US Senator. I have to laugh when someone talks about how corrupt some foreign government is when I know first hand how bad it is in the good old USA.

On the bright side some dams are being torn down.

Eric, I had to think on it some, but the spot you took the video is/was known as the Palmer hole.

NotaSeal

the Eel River has only local diversions to blame for reducing its natural flow; even PG&E’s Potter Valley Project can’t be blamed, Greacen said.

“It’s important to note that the net effect of Potter Valley Project / Lake Pillsbury releases is to increase the amount of water flowing below Cape Horn Dam in the upper mainstem Eel,” Greacen explained on the Friends of the Eel Facebook page.

http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2014/sep/5/why-eel-river-disappeared-and-what-it-means-fish/

So Potter Valley project/Pillsbury causes an INCREASE to water below the dam?!  That's impossible!  First of all, there's no way to INCREASE the amount of water that flows below the dam compared to that which flows in or would flow out naturally, and second, MOST of that water is diverted south through the Potter Valley project downstream of the dam. 

There's no question that most of the upper headwaters and much of the coldest water in the Eel basin is diverted south through Potter Valley.

Answer this:  how's the Russian running right now?

The sad fact of the matter is that for more than a century the city and ag interests have determined water policy and practices at the federal and state level in California. Ground water taking is not regulated at all and this is something that is done even in Texas. Ca is has legislation working it's way through Sactown right now.  The focus is on sustainable groundwater

In counties with ag production there has been nearly no effort to conserve water by the growers. Go up to Oroville and you will see orchards that are still being flood irrigated. Same applies to Monterey county.Site the source please.  Are you saying the flood irrigate in Southern Montery County? Go to San Luis Obispo county and the taking is for the vineyards which are taking so much groundwater that wells are running dry. In Monterey County,  some of the shallow wells used for domestic drinking in Greenfield are going dry

With the major rivers there are diversions for the potato farmers and the worst part is that the damns and canals and dikes are built and maintained by the taxpayers and not the beneficiaries. Corporate farmers are charged less than $1 per acre footWhere is water 1$/ac foot?  Please site source. (over 300,000 gallons) for the water they get so small wonder they do not bother to converse.

We no longer have the sawmills which used to consume vast amounts of water and the pot farmers do not begin to use the amount of water or cause as much lasting environmental degradation as the logging companies have done in the past 40 years, but we do have the food processing plants that use a million gallons of water a day and the chip manufacturing plants that consume equal amounts of water each day. But nothing compares to the farmers and often the water they consume is exported out of the state as produce and milk and even out of the country as cheese and dehydrated milk and even alfalfa which are now being shipped to China by the container load.

Unfortunately it costs less than $10,000 to buy a local county supervisor's vote and only $25,000 to buy the vote of a US Senator. I have to laugh when someone talks about how corrupt some foreign government is when I know first hand how bad it is in the good old USA.

On the bright side some dams are being torn down.

Eric,  I'm very sad to see your home river go dry.  We need rain soon!  We also need water conservation and education of the masses.

So Potter Valley project/Pillsbury causes an INCREASE to water below the dam?!  That's impossible!  First of all, there's no way to INCREASE the amount of water that flows below the dam compared to that which flows in or would flow out naturally, and second, MOST of that water is diverted south through the Potter Valley project downstream of the dam.

Eric, I don't know much about the Eel watershed, but I just did a little reading.  I believe what the guy was saying is that reach in the river (below the Pillsbury dam) would often go somewhat dry in summer before the dam was built.  Because the dam was built to store winter flows for summer, they release water in summer that would not be there otherwise.  It would have already have flowed out of the river.  Dams in the West do that.  They reduce the variance in flows between summer and winter, which may sometimes be good, but also can have other ecological problems.

What I read was that less than 3 % of the total Eel river flow is diverted through Potter Valley, which really isn't a lot.  I also read that some claim the real problem is all the illegal diversions for growing.

I think the most important thing that I read is that this is a mega-drought (that's what the meteorologists called it), the likes of which haven't occurred in this area for 850 years--long before this population was here.

I think the most constructive thing we can do at this stage, individually, is to figure out how to conserve water.  I converted my yard to basically water-less landscaping a few years ago, and it does lower my water bills a bit.  However, I learned last night that you should not go out right now and tear out your yard.  The water needed to get the new plants started would be more than you would use on your lawn--so do that in winter.

Dams in CA are a difficult issue--many people depend on them.  In this case normal folks that live in all the towns from Ukiah through Santa Rosa.

The differentiation means nothing to migratory fish, which, unless it rains soon, won’t be able to get past the barrier and head upriver to their spawning grounds this fall. That problem could turn out to be a blessing in disguise given the river conditions, Goldsworthy said, noting that the upstream spawning grounds may not be viable because of the drought.

The fall salmon run had not yet begun, so the barrier is preventing fish that are currently in the ocean from getting trapped in shallow, warm pools upstream, where they’d likely die, he said. Similarly, most of the out-migrating juvenile fish have already made it to the ocean.

“The timing is pretty good for fish,” Goldsworthy said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/home/2786688-181/eel-river-goes-to-ground

Eric, I don't know much about the Eel watershed, but I just did a little reading.  I believe what the guy was saying is that reach in the river (below the Pillsbury dam) would often go somewhat dry in summer before the dam was built.  Because the dam was built to store winter flows for summer, they release water in summer that would not be there otherwise.  It would have already have flowed out of the river.  Dams in the West do that.  They reduce the variance in flows between summer and winter, which may sometimes be good, but also can have other ecological problems.

What I read was that less than 3 % of the total Eel river flow is diverted through Potter Valley, which really isn't a lot.  I also read that some claim the real problem is all the illegal diversions for growing.

I think the most important thing that I read is that this is a mega-drought (that's what the meteorologists called it), the likes of which haven't occurred in this area for 850 years--long before this population was here.

I think the most constructive thing we can do at this stage, individually, is to figure out how to conserve water.  I converted my yard to basically water-less landscaping a few years ago, and it does lower my water bills a bit.  However, I learned last night that you should not go out right now and tear out your yard.  The water needed to get the new plants started would be more than you would use on your lawn--so do that in winter.

Dams in CA are a difficult issue--many people depend on them.  In this case normal folks that live in all the towns from Ukiah through Santa Rosa.

Dave - Thanks for your thoughtful response, and Mickfish, thanks for the link.

My point, acknowledging all that has been said, is that we have reached a point where a major river which once supported massive runs of salmonids and saw steamships chugging up and down river as far as Scotia, at least, is now hurting so badly that it actually lacks flow at a very far downstream section.  I don't deny the myriad of reasons, and I don't claim the diversion at the PVP is the only issue.  I am simply aghast at the fact that we've allowed a major river to become dewatered to the point where we really don't get to experience having the river be a rich part of our lives.  That is what it would be if it were healthy, and I don't believe that opportunity cost has been given its due respect.  Drought not withstanding, if there were dedicated water in a reservoir for Eel flows then we'd have a river.  It's not that far-fetched.

Awareness should lead to change and improvement.

Eric, are you in on these projects?  Some cool restoration stuff going on up there.

http://www.times-standard.com/news/ci_26572546/stakeholders-view-progress-eel-river-delta-restoration-projects

Eric, are you in on these projects?  Some cool restoration stuff going on up there.

http://www.times-standard.com/news/ci_26572546/stakeholders-view-progress-eel-river-delta-restoration-projects

Dave - I lack any connection to those projects, but I'm really glad they're happening.  It's almost secretive - no sign or talk of them, and all of a sudden it's a news story.  I hope for more widespread estuary rehab in the future.

Eric, I don't know much about the Eel watershed, but I just did a little reading.  I believe what the guy was saying is that reach in the river (below the Pillsbury dam) would often go somewhat dry in summer before the dam was built.  Because the dam was built to store winter flows for summer, they release water in summer that would not be there otherwise.  It would have already have flowed out of the river.  Dams in the West do that.  They reduce the variance in flows between summer and winter, which may sometimes be good, but also can have other ecological problems.

What I read was that less than 3 % of the total Eel river flow is diverted through Potter Valley, which really isn't a lot.  I also read that some claim the real problem is all the illegal diversions for growing.

I think the most important thing that I read is that this is a mega-drought (that's what the meteorologists called it), the likes of which haven't occurred in this area for 850 years--long before this population was here.

I think the most constructive thing we can do at this stage, individually, is to figure out how to conserve water.  I converted my yard to basically water-less landscaping a few years ago, and it does lower my water bills a bit.  However, I learned last night that you should not go out right now and tear out your yard.  The water needed to get the new plants started would be more than you would use on your lawn--so do that in winter.

Dams in CA are a difficult issue--many people depend on them.  In this case normal folks that live in all the towns from Ukiah through Santa Rosa.

Dave - Thanks for your thoughtful response, and Mickfish, thanks for the link.

My point, acknowledging all that has been said, is that we have reached a point where a major river which once supported massive runs of salmonids and saw steamships chugging up and down river as far as Scotia, at least, is now hurting so badly that it actually lacks flow at a very far downstream section.  I don't deny the myriad of reasons, and I don't claim the diversion at the PVP is the only issue.  I am simply aghast at the fact that we've allowed a major river to become dewatered to the point where we really don't get to experience having the river be a rich part of our lives.  That is what it would be if it were healthy, and I don't believe that opportunity cost has been given its due respect.  Drought not withstanding, if there were dedicated water in a reservoir for Eel flows then we'd have a river.  It's not that far-fetched.

Awareness should lead to change and improvement.

One other thing not mentioned on this issue. Which is very important to all of the locals. The river increases their investment in their houses. Who wants to move to an area that the river has dried out, due to mismanagement. I could see a law suit from that aspect as well as the fish issue. Especially if the tax base drops due to drop in real estate prices. Show the state they are losing money and that can change.

Hope the coming rain helps but probably a drop in the bucket.

Another perspective on the drought.