tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-356776222008-04-26T10:15:49.621-07:00Donna McMasterBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-92113885721644688562008-04-26T09:50:00.000-07:002008-04-26T10:15:49.675-07:00

Posted for Theresa L. Simsiman Over the past year the El Dorado County River Management Advisory Committee (RMAC) and other river community members have tossed around the elusive idea of a South Fork American River Shuttle program. Elusive in the fact that creating a viable shuttle would require more than just one single entity. In fact it was apparent from the beginning, that an affordable &

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-77470839705848026142008-04-24T07:59:00.000-07:002008-04-26T10:13:34.345-07:00

Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25, 2008, there will be a series of kayak races and an outdoor BBQ dinner party on the beautiful South Fork of the American River, all to benefit First Descents, a kayak and outdoor experience for Young Adults with Cancer. The "Paddle with the Pros" event will feature a boatercross race, men's and women's downriver races, a free roll clinic, a class III+ Poker Race,

Sara SKtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-14656270865385512262008-04-14T11:43:00.000-07:002008-04-26T10:14:34.267-07:00

Lately we've received a bunch of emails from folks with questions about the American River, and unfortunately we can't answer some of them. We're hoping you might be able to help. If you can answer any of these questions, please post your answer as a comment, or use our contact form to provide a private response. Thanks!! From Leslie: My co-worker and I are looking into some historic information,

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-80053859407528873502008-04-10T12:43:00.000-07:002008-04-10T12:52:26.867-07:00

We recently discovered Russell Towle's blog, North Fork of the American River, "Accounts of explorations in the Great American Canyon, Placer County's Yosemite." As Russell says, It is my philosophy that the old trails of the North Fork need to be known, not unknown. The North Fork of the American River--its wildness, its beautiful scenery, its historic trails and mining ditches and prehistoric

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-59683253259232131202008-02-11T13:20:00.000-08:002008-02-11T14:25:56.722-08:00

Congratulations to DeReimer Adventure Kayaking, named in the February 2008 issue of Outside Magazine as the best place to learn whitewater kayaking. Owners and master instructors Phil and Mary DeReimer make their home in Lotus, and are available for instruction when they are not leading trips in Ecuador, Bhutan and other exotic locations. They teach out of Mother Lode River Center on the South

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-49756350746846493092008-02-06T16:06:00.000-08:002008-02-11T14:27:18.312-08:00

Thanks to Scott Underwood of Mother Lode River Trips for this snowpack report and 2008 whitewater outlook. Those of you who have visited Lake Tahoe recently know that something exciting is happening in the Sierras. Whether you were chaining up and crawling along in traffic, hunkered down waiting out a blizzard, sliding over a slope, or like my Dog Charlie, just sitting enjoying it, snow is

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-45799979985002154882008-02-06T16:03:00.000-08:002008-02-11T14:27:42.519-08:00

Members of the El Dorado County River Management Advisory Committee (RMAC) & local interested parties are exploring the idea of developing a shuttle program for the South Fork of the American River. In order to determine the feasibility of such a venture, they are asking for your input. Make sure your voice is heard! Please take the time to answer a few questions in their survey. thanks to

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-20028979496063420572008-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:002008-01-24T11:26:40.454-08:00

The Foothills Water Network seeks a part-time Project Assistant to support the Coordinator in restoring aquatic health and recreational benefits to the Yuba, Bear, and American Rivers. The Project Assistant will work from home and attend meetings at the Foothills Water Network office in Coloma, and in Auburn. Responsibilities include: organize workshops, events and group forums; manage

sarah canfieldtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-29046891641775734742007-12-16T11:03:00.000-08:002007-12-16T11:21:06.286-08:00

The River Store is selling top quality Noble and Douglas Fir Christmas trees, fresh wreaths, pine cones, mistletoe and fresh fir and cedar boughs for your decorating ideas. Selling trees is a new service offered by the River Store; owners Dan and Colleen wanted to be more involved in the local holiday season and to provide an alternative for local folks to save gas, time and money by staying

sarah canfieldtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-75330546310670935862007-11-08T08:57:00.000-08:002007-11-08T20:48:50.561-08:00

We received a message from Hilde Schweitzer regarding a push to get scheduled, boatable flows on the Slab Creek run. This run is downstream of Slab Creek Reservoir on the upper South Fork of the American River drainage, above Chili Bar. Here is what she is asking. (See the thread at boof.com for more information.) Many of you know about the comments we are submitting to FERC and it is not

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-30192797156835137352007-10-29T15:52:00.000-07:002007-11-08T08:57:04.328-08:00

The American River near Auburn is flowing free for the first time in 40 years after local agencies closed the tunnel and rebuilt the riverbed around the Auburn Dam site. Since it is likely that the Auburn Dam will never be built (after years of controversy and $400 million dollars) government agencies have returned the river to its original bed, with a few manmade improvements paddlers will love

sarah canfieldtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-16495414878705969872007-10-17T10:48:00.001-07:002007-10-23T08:18:36.474-07:00

Boaters, hikers, equestrians, and shuttle bunnies alike will appreciate the newly revised: American River Canyon Hikes: Practical Guides to Trails in the Canyons of the North and Middle Forks American River. In its fourth printing, this book presents 24 trails in well researched detail, with trail length, difficulty, slope elevations and trail profiles, as well as parking and trailhead

sarah canfieldtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-84516503365191159802007-10-01T11:45:00.000-07:002007-10-01T11:55:50.619-07:00

SMUD and PG&E agreed to supply predictable recreational releases from Chili Bar Dam on the South Fork of the American River through 2007, even though formal agreements are not yet in place. These releases will ensure whitewater paddlers of flows of 1300 cfs on the Chili Bar run, from 9 a.m. through noon, on Saturdays and Sundays through December, 2007. During the week, there may or may not be

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-51324549523827979542007-10-01T10:20:00.000-07:002007-10-01T10:21:21.936-07:00

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS) is considering a proposal to dismantle the Airports, Parks and Grounds department. This is the group that manages county parks such as Henningsen-Lotus, and whitewater recreation on the South Fork of the American River. We've posted a PDF of the reorganization proposal. If you would like to hear more about the plans and let your Supervisors know

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-37815381966277462442007-09-30T13:37:00.000-07:002007-10-01T09:43:08.340-07:00

SMUD has notified the whitewater community that they are planning to release 500 cfs down the South Fork of the Silver Creek below the Ice House reservoir from 10/15 to 10/24. This release is due to maintenance on the Union Valley penstock. Flows should start sometime after 9 am on 10/15 and ramp up to 500 cfs over several hours. Flows are expected to stay @ 500 cfs for the entire period.

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-45645460100783844912007-09-30T13:31:00.000-07:002007-09-30T13:36:58.734-07:00

The El Dorado County Department of Transportation will be doing emergency repairs on the one-lane bridge over the South Fork of the American River that connects Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park with Mt. Murphy. (The Highway 49 bridge over the South Fork is not affected.) This bridge is just downstream of Troublemaker Rapid, near the end of the Chili Bar run, and before the put-in at

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-60702625862226792752007-09-06T08:52:00.000-07:002007-09-10T08:19:13.252-07:00

The 2007 American River Festival raised a whopping $3550! The festival took place at several American River-front locations around Coloma over the June 22-23rd weekend. Featured events included the West Coast Rafting Championships, river-boarder cross, kayak slalom race, kids kayak clinics, auction, dinner, and even hot air balloon rides. Thank you to local volunteer event organizer Bobbie

sarah canfieldtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-80816229430973482722007-01-31T11:59:00.000-08:002007-01-31T12:14:17.203-08:00

In today's Sacramento Bee, Matt Weiser reports:A new study puts the cost of constructing an Auburn dam somewhere between $6 billion and $10 billion—at least twice the cost of earlier estimates. The report, released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, yielded other sobering revisions to previous assessments of building a concrete dam on the American River near Auburn: As originally

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-53322231004042314612007-01-31T11:47:00.000-08:002007-01-31T11:57:50.700-08:00

Representatives of Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), PG&E, Friends of the River (FOR), the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the American River Recreation Association and other stakeholders signed an agreement for the relicensing of SMUD's Upper American River Project (UARP). According to FOR, this agreement "greatly improves the existing conditions of the South Fork

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-5969153343786696042007-01-28T19:12:00.000-08:002007-01-28T19:21:47.037-08:00

Posted for Teresa Simsiman - After another 2 months of intense negotiation meetings and conference calls - I am pleased to announce that the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board of Directors as of 1/25/07 has approved the the Relicensing Settlement Agreement for the Upper American River Project and Chili Bar Hydroelectric Project (South Fork of the American River). To view the

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-46067787882511247032007-01-25T10:08:00.000-08:002007-01-25T10:26:32.780-08:00

Matt Weiser of the Sacramento Bee reported today that the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) "has been taking more water from the Rubicon River in the high Sierra than its state permits allow, prompting complaints that the power supplier has harmed fish and neighboring water users." The Rubicon River originates in eastern El Dorado County, but soon flows north into Placer County,

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-49071641221927458312007-01-23T23:04:00.000-08:002007-01-23T23:22:44.024-08:00

Posted for Mike Bean - As many of you have already discovered, this year the gate to the lower parking area at Chili Bar Put-In on the South Fork of the American River is being left open during daylight hours. The upper lot which is not part of the conservation easement owned and managed by the American River Conservancy (ARC) will most likely remain closed. It would be helpful for people

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-76891147479056480752007-01-23T00:10:00.000-08:002007-01-23T00:17:16.270-08:00

Plans are underway to modify Folsom Dam to increase protection against flooding in Sacramento. Sacramento currently has the least protection against flooding of any major city in the US. This upgrade is seen as more cost-effective and less environmentally damaging solution than Auburn Dam or other larger projects. Comments are being accepted through this Friday, January 26, 2007. Submit

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-79625548023770733992007-01-20T11:05:00.001-08:002007-01-20T11:08:23.819-08:00

(Posted for Bill Center) - We will continue to have weekend water releases from Chili Bar for the South Fork of the American River for the forseeable future. We are in discussions with SMUD about water for holidays between now and Memorial day, as well as Spring mid-week water. We have a very diminished snow-pack, but enough reservoir storage to ensure a good summer whitewater boating season.

Donna McMastertag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35677622.post-13496372075329436272007-01-11T00:32:00.000-08:002007-01-11T00:33:57.272-08:00

2007 memberships are open for the Coloma-Lotus Chamber of Commerce. This active organization promotes business and community in the Coloma-Lotus Valley, with a heavy emphasis on recreation. Membership includes a listing in the printed Coloma-Lotus Guide, distributed throughout the Valley and at key El Dorado County locations. It also includes a listing in either the Coloma Valley Directory or The

Donna McMaster