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Hello all!,
has anyone launched at Jones Valley this week? I just got home and want to go to the lake tomorrow. My wife says the lake is Extremely low and was wondering if the Jones valley ramp is even in the water.
as an alternative, what ramp IS in the water?
Thanks guys and girls, Tommy
Ttt
I would also like to know.
How low will it go?: Lake Shasta water could reach lowest level in 15 years
By Dylan Darling (Contact)
Sunday, August 5, 2007
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LAKE SHASTA -- Robert Eade has seen his favorite swimming hole shrink daily as Lake Shasta drains to possibly its lowest water level in 15 years come the end of summer.
"Every day it's lower and lower," said the 13-year-old as he bobbed Monday in the murky water of the lake's Salt Creek finger near his home.
As the water has dropped, restrictions have gone up on what boaters can do and how fast they can travel, and questions have been raised about where the lake's water is going.
Each day the water drops three-quarters of a foot, and the water level is expected to be more than 100 feet below its high point by Labor Day weekend and 115 feet below by the end of November, said Sheri Harral, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at Shasta Dam.
"We are going down," she said.
While the rate of drop is normal for this time of year, she said, the lake's level isn't. In August, the lake usually is only 40 to 50 feet below the high-water mark, Harral said. Wednesday it was about 80 feet below.
Because of the low water, the Shasta County sheriff's office announced boating restrictions last week that mostly affect the far ends of each of the lake's arms and many of its inlets. As the water goes down, features normally underwater are surfacing, said Sgt. Mark Lillibridge, who heads up the sheriff's Boating Safety Unit.
"When it gets to 90 to 100 feet down, it gets dangerous," he said.
Snags, rock outcroppings and entire islands are literally popping out of the lake daily, he said.
Those added obstacles have led to some costly mishaps for some boaters this year, said Brian Davis, general manager at Sugarloaf Resort.
"We've had a couple of boats damaged pretty severely," he said.
Repairs have been in the neighborhood of $2,000, Davis said.
The abnormally low lake is a result of abnormally low rainfall over the winter and spring, Harral said. The rain gauge at Shasta Dam logged only 37.5 inches from July 1, 2006, to June 30 -- half of the normal total -- causing the lake to crest ahead of schedule. While Lake Shasta usually doesn't reach its high-water mark for the year until late May or early June, this year it crested March 31.
And it was close to 19 feet below the "crest" or high waterline, she said. The crest, where the Bureau calls the lake full, is 11 feet below the roadway on top of the dam and 1,067 feet above sea level.
After months of sending water down the Sacramento River to irrigate crops, supply drinking water, keep fish alive and generate power, Lake Shasta is now 56 percent full, Harral said. The lake, which is the state's largest reservoir, capable of holding 4.5 million acre-feet of water, held 2.5 million acre-feet of water last week.
as an alternative, what ramp IS in the water?
As of Aug 4th...the public ramp next to the Sugarloaf Marina was open.....
As of Aug 4th...the public ramp next to the Sugarloaf Marina was open.....
is the bridge showing yet---??? I know that isn't truly a "boat ramp" but it's
actually a water-covered road that was left when they made the lake. when
the water goes down far enough, that "ramp" makes a slight left turn, then
gradually the ramp steepens, and turns left even harder until you can make
out the bridge............. pretty dang cool.....
I've been to shasta in the late 70's when the lake was soo low, you could see
about 50" of the light/cable tower near the damn....... really cool..
--Sherpa
is the bridge showing yet---??? I know that isn't truly a "boat ramp" but it's
actually a water-covered road that was left when they made the lake. when
the water goes down far enough, that "ramp" makes a slight left turn, then
gradually the ramp steepens, and turns left even harder until you can make
out the bridge............. pretty dang cool.....
I've been to shasta in the late 70's when the lake was soo low, you could see
about 50" of the light/cable tower near the damn....... really cool..
--Sherpa
Not yet...but from the looks of the forcast....I wouldn't be suprised to see it...
There was a new island popping up between the Sugarloaf marina and the ramp on the 4th... :jawdrop:
Not yet...but from the looks of the forcast....I wouldn't be suprised to see it...
There was a new island popping up between the Sugarloaf marina and the ramp on the 4th... :jawdrop:
must be the same one my mom hit our outboard on during one of our camping
trips to Sugarloaf..........
--good times, being 5 years old and wearing a ski-belt for 2 weeks straight
with your name on the back..........EVERYBODY knew where I was... lol.
is the bridge showing yet---??? I know that isn't truly a "boat ramp" but it's
actually a water-covered road that was left when they made the lake. when
the water goes down far enough, that "ramp" makes a slight left turn, then
gradually the ramp steepens, and turns left even harder until you can make
out the bridge............. pretty dang cool.....
I've been to shasta in the late 70's when the lake was soo low, you could see
about 50" of the light/cable tower near the damn....... really cool..
--Sherpa
Exactly, we used to boat down there when I swear where its at now was nearly the start of the season. The higher boat ramp at Bridge Bay would never get used, the island that pops up by the bridge was out real early.
If its an off weekend, not a holiday, you could launch at Bridge Bay and deal with all the idiots that cant back up a ski boat. LOL