Water releases raise Yuba River level

A stretch of the Yuba River is becoming faster, colder and deeper this week, and Yuba County is asking swimmers and boaters to be watchful.

The county has announced an increase in the water release rate — possibly today — at New Bullards Bar Dam near Dobbins, a move prompted by higher-than-average rainfall and snow melt this year. Similar releases began Thursday morning down the Yuba River at Englebright Dam.

The expanded water release is the first of its kind from the Bullards Bar Reservoir since 2006, the year before a three-year drought gripped the North State, according to Curt Aikens, manager of the Yuba County Water Agency.

The Sheriff's Department called on boaters, swimmers and others visiting the Yuba to consider postponing their plans immediately after the release. Water flows are expected to rise by 2,000 cubic feet per second from the normal flow of 6,600, Aikens said.

Regular and boat-based deputies are finding people living in the Yuba river bottoms to notify them of the rise in water levels, and the water agency is contacting miners based near the Colgate powerhouse.

"It'll be colder, the water will be deeper and faster, and there will be more debris than normal," said sheriff's spokeswoman Melanie Oakes. "Swimmers, kayakers, rafters — anyone without a motor will be at the mercy of the river."

The greatest concern may be for swimmers mistakenly believing summer conditions also apply to the water.

"It gets hot outside and the river looks attractive to go in, but the river turns out to be cold and fast, and that could be a precarious situation," he said.

Hours after the boost in water flow at Englebright Dam, the Yuba River had become brisk enough to form small whitecaps under the Parks Bar Bridge, south of Bullards Bar. On a nearby bank, a gold panner, Gridley resident Gary Bingham, noticed the higher river level, but saw little danger from it.

"They're just about full and they got more snow melt coming; it's time," he said as the Yuba partly swallowed up once-dry plants 10 feet behind him. "I just hope they hold back some water so it's not like Lake Oroville, where it gets so low you can't even launch a boat."

The Mid-Valley's highest winter rainfall in four years has contributed to the larger releases at Bullards Bar, as has persistent snow melt from the Sierra Nevada with the easing of the North State's three-year drought.

The combination of accumulated snow and summer's arrival could force continued high flows for as long as three weeks, according to Aikens, who said the conditions could persist even through a long stretch of hotter weather in Yuba County.

CONTACT Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com.