Lake Nacimiento Being Pillaged
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:12 pm
Pillaging: To strip ruthlessly of all valuables by open violence, as in war; to plunder, despoil, abuse, and mistreat.
...We are just coming off of a seven-year drought. Last year, when the lake nearly filled, the agency released the water so fast that just about every dock in the lake was left high and dry. Residents requested to be told before the release so that they could protect their docks and property. But that request fell on deaf ears. When asked about it, the MCWRA responded by saying it had to prepare for next year's rains. Not really knowing whether it would actually rain, this is a blatant reminder of this agency's incompetence. It seems its power is in the hands of ignorant people.
Lake Nacimiento was built as a watershed for farmers in the Salinas River basin. Those farmers don't want or need the water in the winter when they get their own rain. They also want the water conserved for the spring and summer months when we reach three-digit temperatures and crops are suffering. And if there is another year of drought, we need the water to fight fires with. The sensible thing to do is conserve the water that's there for the times when it isn't and to regulate the dam properly for safety and flooding.
In the past, the Nacimiento dam couldn't hold at 100 percent capacity. That was fixed a few years ago. Now, unless that system has failed at the price of a few million dollars, the lake should be able to hold at least a 70 to 80 percent backlog of water. Why drain the lake to 20 and 30 percent by summer, leaving clubs and private property owners with no launching facilities and wildlife scrambling for a viable water source?...
Read the Rest: https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobis ... id=4825594
...We are just coming off of a seven-year drought. Last year, when the lake nearly filled, the agency released the water so fast that just about every dock in the lake was left high and dry. Residents requested to be told before the release so that they could protect their docks and property. But that request fell on deaf ears. When asked about it, the MCWRA responded by saying it had to prepare for next year's rains. Not really knowing whether it would actually rain, this is a blatant reminder of this agency's incompetence. It seems its power is in the hands of ignorant people.
Lake Nacimiento was built as a watershed for farmers in the Salinas River basin. Those farmers don't want or need the water in the winter when they get their own rain. They also want the water conserved for the spring and summer months when we reach three-digit temperatures and crops are suffering. And if there is another year of drought, we need the water to fight fires with. The sensible thing to do is conserve the water that's there for the times when it isn't and to regulate the dam properly for safety and flooding.
In the past, the Nacimiento dam couldn't hold at 100 percent capacity. That was fixed a few years ago. Now, unless that system has failed at the price of a few million dollars, the lake should be able to hold at least a 70 to 80 percent backlog of water. Why drain the lake to 20 and 30 percent by summer, leaving clubs and private property owners with no launching facilities and wildlife scrambling for a viable water source?...
Read the Rest: https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobis ... id=4825594