Boat ramp status up in the air

As lake continues to fall, ramps could soon become a casualty

The main topic of conversation in Lake County these days centers around the possible closure of the public boat ramps located around Clear Lake.

There are presently seven public ramps available, however the lake level continues drop a rate of a little more than an inch a week. Even with drought conditions there is water being taken out of Clear Lake. That water goes to the water companies that rely on the lake, private lakeside users and a few farmers who use the water for irrigation. Yolo County hasn't taken any water from the lake. In fact, Yolo County hasn't taken water of any significance from Indian Valley Reservoir this year. In 1914 the Cache Creek Dam, located approximately 3 miles downstream of the Riffle, became operational and has regulated the level of Clear Lake ever since. Operation of the dam is now controlled by two court decrees, known as the Gopcevic Decree (1920) and the Solano Decree (1978, revised 1995).

These decrees attempted to balance the desire to store water in the lake for downstream water supply and local recreation with the desire to minimize local flooding. The Gopcevic Decree regulates winter water levels by setting a lake stage below which water may not be released and above which water must be released to reduce flooding. Because of the limited discharge capacity of the Cache Creek channel, it is physically impossible to prevent the lake from flooding during extended periods of heavy rainfall.

Prior to construction of the dam, the highest recorded lake level at Clear Lake was 13.66 feet Rumsey in 1890, with the lake level exceeding 10 feet Rumsey nine more times between 1874 and 1914. After the dam was constructed in 1914, the highest recorded lake level has been 11.44 feet Rumsey in 1998, with the lake level exceeding 10 feet Rumsey nine other times.

The drought has changed things considerably and it could get worse. The experts are predicting that if the drought continues into next year the lake level could easily break the record set in 1977 of minus-3.39 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. If the lake level dropped that low it would have a dramatic impact on local businesses and the general public. One of the biggest impacts would be on the water companies drawing water from the lake for domestic use as their intake pipes would be out of the water, meaning they wouldn't be able to draw water from the lake.

Approximately 35,000 people who live on or near the lake depend on the water these companies provide. Water would have to be trucked in, which is a huge task and expensive. Tourism would drop to near zero and local motels, gas stations and restaurants would feel the impact.

The big concern is if the public rams will have to be closed. There are only six public ramps currently open and a couple of them could be closing within a week or two. One solution to

the ramps closing would be to install ramp extensions. The ramps could be extended by more than 30 feet, which would allow boat launching during the drought.

It is unlikely we will receive significant rainfall before January and even

if we do it takes a lot of rain to raise the lake level. It requires at least eight inches of rainfall to raise the lake level one inch.

The eight inches is the amount of rainfall needed to saturate the hills and create runoff.

If the drought continues into the next several years, all bets are off and no one knows what will happen. In other words, pray for a lot of rain.