No relief in sight
Reservoir levels show drought persists; 70% chance of La Nina again this winter
This summer in the Central Sierra has been hot and bonedry, with a fresh round of forest-eating, homedestroying megablazes like the Caldor and Dixie fires, smaller fires close to home like the Airola and Washington fires, and decreasing reservoir levels that serve as reminders of dire drought conditions taking hold up and down most of the Golden State.
New Melones Reservoir, near the new Parrotts Ferry Road bridge and the ignition point for the Airola Fire in Calaveras County, was 37% full as of Wednesday, with surface water elevation just above 926 feet, which is about 160 feet below the manmade storage basin’s high-water line of 1,088 feet.
That’s nowhere near as low as the reservoir’s most recent low point in summer and fall of 2015, when the old Parrotts Ferry Road bridge emerged and remnants of old town Melones became visible. In November that year, the reservoir was holding just 11% of it’s 2.4 million acre-feet storage capacity.
The filling of New Melones Reservoir commenced in 1978, and New Melones Dam’s hydroelectric station first produced power in mid-1979. Hydrologists and historians say the lowest-ever level at New Melones was recorded Oct. 1, 1992, when the reservoir held 83,631 acre-feet — just 3.5% of capacity.
Elsewhere in the Mother Lode on Wednesday, New Hogan Reservoir on the Calaveras River was holding 30% of capacity; Don Pedro Reservoir on the Tuolumne River was holding 52% of capacity; and Mcclure Reservoir on the Merced River was holding just 24% of capacity.
Sheriff’s Office booking logs identify him as a surgical technician.
Sonora Police Officer Thomas Brickley said there are no credible leads at this time indicating there were additional victims in Tuolumne County or the City of Sonora.
Pineda Pimentel is accused of raping a homeless woman on June 4 in Sonora and June 14 in Turlock, according to seperate news releases from the police departments in both cities.
The Sonora Police Department said a victim reported that she was picked up by a Hispanic man in a dark SUV who offered her a ride. The victim said she accepted the offer, but the man drove to an undisclosed location instead of the attempted destination.
The victim said she was ordered out of the vehicle and raped by force outside.
The Turlock Police Department, who described Pineda Pimentel as a serial rapist, said a homeless woman told police she was picked up on Geer Road in Turlock by a Hispanic man in a dark SUV who was about 6 feet tall and 250 pounds.
The victim said the suspect offered her a ride and offered to help her. She declined, but consented to the ride because he was persistent.
“Instead of taking her to where she was going, he drove behind a closed business and raped her by force,” the Turlock Police Department said. “The victim cooperated with the investigation and consented to a medical sexual assault investigation, where biological evidence was located.”
The Sonora and Turlock police departments separately collected DNA samples from the respective victims for forensic examination.
On Aug. 30, the Turlock Police Department was notified that the DNA matched Pineda Pimentel and other unsolved sexual assaults in two other counties.
An additional county where an alleged crime occurred has not been identified by law enforcement.
“The circumstances in all three were very similar,” the release said. “Detectives also learned Pineda’s DNA record was from the military in 2009, where he had been arrested and charged with rape. That case was ultimately dismissed.”
The Sonora Police Department said they were notified of the DNA match on Aug. 31.
Pineda was arrested by the Turlock Police Department on Sept. 2 in south Modesto. His location was determined after an arrest warrant was issued as a result of a collaborative investigation by detectives, a special investigations unit and the community and crime information analyst.
When the suspect was located, he reportedly had just picked up a homeless woman that he met the day before. The woman said she only knew his first name and had been offered a ride and something to eat.
Pineda Pimentel was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of rape using force or fear, though an online database called Vinelink said he bonded out of custody. It did not provide the date of when he was released.
The Sonora Police Department release said they worked with the Turlock Police Department and learned of his arrest on Sept. 2.
Investigators made contact with him Tuesday and took him into custody, “without incident,” the Sonora Police Department said.
Both news releases included an admonition that Pineda Pimentel was presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Sonora Police Department identified his residence in Manteca, which the Turlock Police Department identified as in Denair, both of which are in Stanislaus County.
Brickley and other law enforcement officials said investigators are seeking public input on if there are any additional victims.
Additional victims are believed to reside in the Central Valley and foothills. They are asking homeless resources groups to encourage potential victims to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sonora Police Department at (209) 532-8141 or Det. Tim Redd at the Turlock Police Department at (209) 6647325.