left side is 97% full, right side is 17% full. hopefull the rain that is coming helps more than hurts with the projected mud slides.

Two pics*

well if you want to get technical, its 1 composite picture of 2 pictures.

I've went out to folsom lake many times growing up. Sad to see it that low.

I live about 4 miles from the dam and see Folsom Lake water every time I flush the toilet. An upcoming triathlon is being moved from Folsom Lake to Lake Natoma, just downstream, because of the water level. Transition from the water is far too long, uphill and in the sand.

Here's 1* more photo:

What are they doing there, far below the water high level line.

It looks like they are putting gravestones in ......

Attached Images

 

They appear to be pilings, which would strengthen and stabilize an earthen dam.

Wow. Sad to see. Hopefully rain will be bountiful for the rest of the year.

Nature is an enigma though for the Sahara used to be rich, fertile farmland before the building of the pyramids.

So I guess CALTRANS or whomever is using this as an opportunity to reinforce the damn dam.

Might not ever get the opportunity without diverting water manually.

Not that things aren't bad, but it's worth noting that the comparison picture is in late summer on a year the snowpack was nearly 200% of normal, meaning most of that had melted and gone into lakes by then. Here's Squaw's data, which should be similar to the snowpack feeding Folsom. See that they got 810" at 8k (yes, that's 67.5 feet of snow!!!), whereas the average (presumably also at 8k) is 450" (37.5 feet).

Snowfall Tracker | Squaw Valley

This year they're at a measly 13 feet so far. I think the latest was the snowpack measurement was 25% of normal, though we've also had some rain. But we're getting some storms, and the skiing is pretty good now after the storm 2 weeks ago that dropped 5+ feet in the higher elevations. I enjoyed the 6" of fresh powder this morning at Diamond Peak, and most resorts here in Tahoe got more than that.

There was a big article on desalination plants coming online in CA in a couple years. While I dislike that CA spends so much and thus taxes so much, one of the best things they could do is have a "pay for sod" program like Las Vegas does, paying people to rip out their lawn. I know our water usage goes up 400% in summer, and so while dropping a minute on shower time might seem eco friendly, it's just a drop in the bucket compared to getting rid of some more of our grass. OTOH, the shower drain goes to the sewer and is pumped out of the valley, whereas any irrigation that doesn't evaporate or get used by the grass eventually makes it to the lake which is our water source.

Anyway, back to Folsom, the summer of 2011 should have been a high level mark after an exceptional year. Lake Tahoe nearly reached it's maximum allowed limit that summer Lake Tahoe Water Watch | Tahoetopia - Tahoe TV

Let's move 1/4 of the population of US and Mexico into an arid state and expect it to support that amount of people.

I guess Socal gets its rain all at once.