Hello Juan! I was born and raised in Tulare and can remember as a 6 or 7 year old boy driving west of Corcoran ca.with my mom and dad just to see the lake as it would appear from time to time before the Pine Flat Dam was built to control the Kings River. We drove down a road that just disappeared into the water. There was an old broken down ferry that I felt sorry for because it was abandoned left to rot I guess. Looking to the west we couldn’t even see the shore which would have been where I-5 is today I suppose. Could have been 10 or more miles. I remember going over to fish the lake later on and I was amazed at the huge cattails growing everywhere. I was so disappointed when only in a few years later it was gone. Later on in life I worked for JG Boswell Co. in the great cotton fields that were farmed where the lake once covered. I remember watching crop dusters fly at night directed buy flashlights on the ground. I was told they would even fly under power lines. Fields were 1 mile X 1 mile. I am ready to go with you in my 52 Tri Pacer but I just remembered I sold it in about 1994. I've been watching you since Dam disaster days. You’re the best reporter out there.
I was born and raised in Corcoran. My dad used to run the water district and finally retired after about 50 years. I’ve seen that lake form a few different times, but talking with my dad, he is adamant that this will be a monster of a flood.
@@MrDirt-zy1jp El Rico is still there, as a place, but not much more. The gin was ripped out years ago along with others in the area and shipped to Australia for their operations down under. Most of the area is now trees and tomatoes…with enough cotton to keep things interesting.
If you're talking Tulare Lake, I understand the Navy even had a flying boat base there. Edit: Ah - it was Tulare Lake that was being talked about. Nice to see it making a comeback.
I bet everybody is really happy that the remaking of the Oroville spillway was done, and done well, and completed in time for these extraordinary events. And that it's holding up well and able to take this work.
Juan, if you want to know about Tulare Lake, I can put you in touch with my dad. He ran the irrigation district there for roughly 50 years and has managed its reappearance a number of times. He’s just recently retired and moved out of state, but he knows the lay of the land as well as anyone. I spoke with him earlier this evening and sounds as though he is fielding calls from those running the situation this year and providing advice based on his experiences. I’m sure he’d be happy to help you with information. Let me know and I’ll get you two connected.
Lol! Yes, there is a Tule lake up north in Ca.We are concerned with the Tulare lake in Central Ca.The kings river drains into it from the Pine Flat dam east of Fresno CA. In the central valley ca.Every bad rain/ flood year, the (what was once Tulare lake) is used as a catch Basin for all of the flood water(excess water) from Pineflat dam along the Kings River which flows through Kings county/ Fresno county and Tulare County CA. I hope that clarify, s what we are talking and worried about.
Guys, just to be clear, yes I am referring to what is academically known as Tulare Lake; however, being born and raised in Corcoran, it’s just known to many locals as Tule Lake. The lake was originally bordered with thick growths of tule reeds and is fed by the Tule River which is why many locals refer to it as Tule Lake. Sorry for the confusion; I edited it to read Tulare Lake to avoid further confusion.
The interesting thing about Tulare Lake is that it sits in an endorheic basin (no outlet to the ocean). The King, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers all used to flow out of the Sierra and end up in Tulare Lake. Only in very high water years did the lake rise high enough for some water to flow north into the San Joaquin River and eventually out to sea. Starting in the 19th century, all the rivers that fed the lake were dammed and the waters diverted (mostly for agriculture). The lake bottom is now farmed by large corporate farmers. In recent times, persistent groundwater pumping has led to a lowering of the lake bottom due to land subsidence. I will be watching to see how the reborn lake is pumped out later this year. Could be quite the project. It would be nice to restore some fraction of the lake as a wildlife reserve, but I doubt that will happen.
SoCal farmers are the biggest cry babies when it comes to water, so they’d probably have a meltdown if anyone suggested letting a lake naturally form while they’re not allowed to flood irrigate.
Hi Juan. I followed all your updates during the spillway failure and rebuild. Currently, all the webcams from the spillway are blocked from being viewed in the UK, so its nice to get an update like this and see it actually running. Thanks for producing all that you do.
Use a VPN to get around the blocking. Use a server that's in the US. I had problem trying to get to a web site that was in England. I got in by using my VPN to use a server in England.
also it's a miss conception that the waters being "wasted". the high outflow is needed to clear out the entire delta system in california. due to the lack of outflow from the lakes through the drought there are a lot of areas that have become stagnant along with pushing out the brackish water that has slowly been creeping further and further inland.
You have to go down Tulare Lake and check it out. They are driving trucks into the levee then dropping dirt on them. some farmers are breaking the levees. Its going to get Wild down at the new old Tulare lake.
Tulare Lake still had enough water in it during WW2 to be used as one of the outlying seaplane bases for the Alameda Naval Air Station. Clear Lake, which is currently the largest natural lake in California, was also used as an outlying seaplane base for when weather did not permit landing on the frequently foggy San Francisco Bay.
That is really interesting! I would love to see old movies of them landing there. Maybe Periscope video will have some in there archives. I have been diverted many, many, many times trying to land at SFO in the fog!
This is endlessly fascinating to watch and listen to Juan explain how all of these water control systems work together and adjusting one flow truly does have a trickle down (ahem) effect on many other systems. I never even knew what a Wier was or how it works but I’m glad that other people do! It’s also nice to know that there is a level of unbelievable planning in SAFELY controlling massive amounts of water like this.
I've been avidly consuming printed info on the internet about the weirs and levee systems, I'm excited to find this channel showing me the system in action. Living in Yuba City so close to the Feather River, named of course for the migratory birds that used to fly in such giant flocks they darkened the sky! Who else remembers the flocks of birds? They've pretty much disappeared probably in part due to insect control, for instance I don't remember the last time I saw bats flying around at dusk.
7:42 FYI The Pajaro River's source is San Felipe Lake, just east of Gilroy; however, one of its major tributaries is the San Benito River, whose headwaters are south of Pinnacles.
Thanks for the info from Norcal. Im in the central valley inbetween lake Kaweah & Success which are feeding the Tulare lake. Kaweah and Success are full and have already spilled through their emergency spillways for the first time in a very long time.
Juan addressed my concern regarding wasting fresh water and sending it back to the sea. That's a touchy issue for us parched Southern Californians. Thanks!
4:57 "it's not like they're wasting the water" Well, in an era where we attempt to manage all water it can be argued it is exactly like they are wasting the water. We have had years of precipitation deficits and will have many more, so not to bank all the water possible when it falls in excess is foolish and wasteful. Just filling the surface reservoirs is not sufficient, not when we have nearly depleted California's natural fresh groundwater reservoirs, those need to be either replentished or accounted for before we consider any precipitation to be excess and simply allow it to flush through the system. Either that or California's farming industry is going to dry up, literally. California has a terrible history managing water resources, one look at the Los Angeles River is proof of that. It's great to see they are finally starting to make cosmetic improvements to that abomination, but it's not near enough.
Excellent stuff, Juan. Ever since the near failure of the dam, I have been watching this channel. Cali topography is insane. Knowledge of headwaters and flood plains so crucial.
I remember Grandpa had a plack on the wall saying how he "saved the town of ???" when he was the live-on-site engineer for Mount Morris Dam (I think). That balance of flood control is much more challenging than the standard "keep the generators turning" part of the job apparently.
The King of California: J.G. Boswell and... by Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman Is a good read about Boswell, and Fred Salyer growing cotton, blowing up each other's levies, draining Tulare lake, and growing more cotton!
The Joaquin River does not feed into Tulare Lake but does take some flood water from the Kings River which is probably the largest source of water for Tulare Lake. Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake in the western U.S. (west of the Great Lakes), and is at the middle of a basin fed by the Kings, Kaweah / St. John’s, Tule and Kern Rivers. If my memory is correct, Tulare Lake was the largest lake in California in 1969. Kings River splits into a pair of distributaries, the North Fork and the South Fork (not to be confused with the North and South Forks upstream in the Sierra Nevada). The a Weir controls the amount of water flowing into either branch. The Fresno Slough diverges water from the North Fork and flows northwest, seasonally carrying floodwaters from the Kings River to the San Joaquin River at Mendota. This is the only branch of the Kings River to reach the San Joaquin, and consequently the Pacific Ocean during flood conditions. The remainder of the North Fork turns south below Fresno Slough, rejoining the South Fork west of Lemoore. During summer water can be brought down from the Joaquin River via canals. The Kern which is in the southern valley historically could feed into Tulare Lake but probably is not doing so at this time (even with the large water flows, but don’t hold me to that). The Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant has a runway that people fly into to take a break. The flooding of Tulare Lake should should be just southeast of Harris Ranch. You can go east past Lemoore NAS along 198 over to 99 and catch flooding of farm fields around the mentioned rivers that head towards the old lake basin. The Tule River which is a bit south of 198 is the river that has flooded parts of Portervillle. An article and some historical film about Tulare Lake is available on this link: abc30.com/tulare-lake-archive-footage-heavy-rainfall-severe-flooding/12988670/
Enjoy your reports Juan! Big picture guy that shows the relevant info and facts. I like how you joined the local paper to get access to Oroville and just kept at it. Great stuff sir!
Thanks Juan. You are doing a wonderful job with this. I can't believe the comments on here. Most people don't seem to have a clue, despite all of the good reporting that you have done. The only plus that I can see is that there wasn't a single comment about the green spot. Yet
I think you didn't read the comments. There's hardly anything offensive here, except maybe for that guy above who says we should put all the homeless to work or send 'em to 'Jersey. Man, some people! 😏
If I understand correctly, it wasn't so much drained, as it was deprived of the water from the rivers that used to feed it. Like what happened to Owens Lake and Mono Lake when Los Angeles diverted the water from the streams feeding them.
I remember when it was failing years ago and I was sharing information warning MILLIONS it was about to collapse. Glad to see it finally working to protect people
Juan, welcome to Tulare Lake! If you need a” tour guide” I’ve worked in the lakebottom in ag/farming for 10 years and know the area and water systems pretty well. The lakebottom and surrounding areas are taking on quite a bit of water right now from the 3 main dammed rivers and 3 more uncontrolled streams.
@@blancolirioJuan - technically, there is a level that Tulare Lake can rise to before it naturally spills over into Fresno Slough/North Fork bypass, and go past the towns of Riverdale, San Joaquin, and Tranquility before it joins the San Joaquin River at Mendota Pool. At that level though that channel itself would become a widened out flowing "lake" and flood quite a bit of those towns, a lot of permanent crop farm ground, houses (including mine), and possibly NAS Lemoore. Hopefully it doesn't get that high. They'll try to push as much water north though that bypass, but it's flow rate is limited due to subsidence around Mendota and Firebaugh. What I believe was done in either the 1983 or 1997/98 flood (I can't recall which), was that water from the already flooded Tulare Lake was slowly pumped back into that bypass at I believe Crescent Weir, and the lakebottom was slowly drained over the course of a few years. Without the active pump-back into the San Joaquin system, water in the lake would just stay there until it slowly evaporated. The geology there consists of a very shallow brackish water table, and an impervious Corcoran clay layer just beneath that, so absolutely no way for that water to infiltrate deep underground.
Very fun video! If this were the 70's, I know my Sacramento-based scout troop would have taken a field trip to the dam to see the water, and the fully-functioning control of the dam. Superb! This brings back a lot of pleasant memories. Adventures always began with a troop-wide pancake breakfast so all the kids had energy to have a great time. I miss you, Mr Ramsdale. You were a great leader for us kids. You took us to see so many amazing things back then.
Dan Walters, a long-time journalist in California, had a nice write-up of Lake Tulare recently. If only CA had built a few more storage reservoirs in the past 40 years we could be storing more of this bounty for future use, but our legislators fumbled, fiddled and failed.
Im far from California ( Arkansas ) but watching this channel has got me keeping up with the water in California...Im so happy to see that you guys are finally getting some water!!!
I live in California and we've had our fill of water this year. I hope that each storm that has passed through will help feed lakes Powell and Mead. They really need it badly. Utah is also in bad shape.
The waters between Traver and Goshen along 99 and our railroad tracks are as high as I've ever seen in my 9 years living in california and working for union Pacific. And the waters just keep on coming. Thanks Juan for all you do.
No rain in Crescent City but it's over cast and rain looks possible. It's good to see no cavitation and that water is flowing very fast and easily over the new cement.
Thanks for the updates Juan. Here in San Luis Obispo County all of our lakes are full except San Antonio lake, its about halfway there but it was almost dry to start out with and its 16 miles long. The storm is hitting us hard here right now.
Interesting reading about the return of Tulare Lake, Huge. 8X the size of Tahoe when full, lotta water out there! Get some footage from the Husky Juan!
A good portion of the water will sock into the ground and eventually reach the underground water table. In Kern County Buena Vista dry lake area, we have large percolation pons pacifically to recharge that aquifer it is called Kern Water Bank. When Tulare Lake and Buena Vista dry lake or both filled , water in the San Joaquin Valley begins the flow back north. I have seen that condition twice in my lifetime. I believe that the Western United States has had less than average rainfall for the past two hundred years. When the Spanish Padres first traveled through California, they avoided the Southern San Joaquin Valley because it was a huge malaria swamp .
Love your content. I first found this channel as the original Oroville disaster started. I finally had to know the origin of Thermolito, and now I know it's a town on the Feather River.
You can swim (fish/sail/sailboard) in the Thermalito warmup basin - it is fairly shallow but it is COOOOOOOOOOLD water. My brothers and I had to take 30 minutes to ease in, my grandfather just walked right in, up to his shoulders.
I love your channel Juan you inform us without the bias of the media! Just showing the repairs going on at the Pajaro River shows you what the media doesnt cover. I watch the nightly news both local and national and haven't seen the videos of this. I would like to own one of those tracked dump machines!
The water is also not “wasted” as it helps recharge the aquifers down stream, and carries nutrients out to the ocean for marine life, both of which, California heavily depends on.
Thanks Juan...very informative, as always. Re: Tulare Lake, the Fresno Bee (Mar 21) had an article (editorial opinion piece) about intentional breaks in the levees that caused Tulare Lake to reform. This was apparently a criminal (intentional) act, done to direct or divert the excess water away from certain farm land. Tulare Lake has always been here in the San Joaquin Valey, but has been replaced with farmland.
It's not because of anything smart that California's leaders have done, Catherine. It snowed. That's all. I hope California continues to renovate its dam system. But California STILL needs to implement widespread desalination. Because rain dances are not as effective as drawing the water right out of the ocean would be.
oroville,right where i found your channel several years ago ,full circle,,im not an aviation guy ,but you do such a great job on your coverage that i rarly miss a vid,,awesome job
Thank you, Juan, really enjoyed your update and perspective. Absolutely beautiful footage. So glad California is getting much needed rain. God bless all of the good folks in California, from a Texan :)
Looking forward to video of Tulare Lake. I read up on the history of this lake a couple years ago. It is amazing such a huge lake disappeared from the face of the earth.
y grandfather, W.A. Crocket, was hired by the Tulare Lake Land Company as its superintendent in the late 20s. He saved his money and gradually bought more and more land; by the late 1940s he was farming 82,000 acres in the Tulare Lake Basin (in addition to other lands near Los Banos) along with his business partner Albert Gambogy. He got out of farming a year before I was born, so I never got to see his farms in Tulare Lake. Your post today brought back memories of hearing my Dad talk about life on the ranch.
Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area is a pair of smaller lakes with a campground that is operated by Kern County. It's located in the lake bed of the former Buena Vista Lake, which in wet years used to flow/ connnect/ drain into places that eventually ended up in Tulare Lake. They were in the Tulare Lake basin, according to Wikipedia. It's all so confusing! Bottom line: that whole area used to be wetter. We camped at the campground once. We did not find it suitable for tent camping, but a group from our church returns there every fall.
Those trees around that spillway sure look happy! I get that they need to make room for the snow melt but it sure would be nice if we could conserve some of the water somehow, considering how low we were. Although it also seems good for the rivers and all to get a good washing out to return their health. What's a weir? Such a relief to see our state get a good drink. We needed it in the worst way. Thanks for sharing.
Your friend and mine, Wikipedia, says "a dam is designed specifically to impound water behind a wall, whilst a weir is designed to alter the river flow characteristics. A common distinction between dams and weirs is that water flows over the top (crest) of a weir or underneath it for at least some of its length." Oxford Languages adds "an enclosure of stakes set in a stream as a trap for fish".
You get such beautiful footage of a variety of things that most of us never get to see. Thank You Juan. Finally Cali is getting life giving water. Down here in South Texas, we are going into a 5 year drought, I'm hoping an El Nino will help to resolve the dryness in our valley and into Mexico. All of these areas also produce mucho agriculture. We get tons of fruit and vegetables from the Texas Valley and from Mexico. Most people don't understand how much food Mexico produces for the U. S.
Keep in mind that when you overflew it was 35K in and 26K out, but about half that going through the power plant, so when they increased total outflow to 35K, that extra 9K was all added to the spillway, adding like 75% more flow, which is why it looked so much more dramatic.
well after all the money dedicated to rebuild the runoff at Orville , it is nice to see it is working and can start earning its keep . A lot of folks did make notes saying it may never get used , but ...as we see , it is and will be without failing and scaring of a flood ( worse than natural ) thanks for the updates
With respect to Lake Tulare and the filling of the Yolo Bypass (which I know well, having spent 3 years at UC Davis in 1998-2001), I'd be interested to know what, if any, updates DWR (and others) are providing on the groundwater/aquifer situation. Especially in the southern San Joaquin Valley, land subsidence was becoming a real concern in 2015-2016, so it'd be interesting to know whether that concern has been assuaged by the winters of 2016-2017 and 2022-2023
The state allocated 600,000 acre-feet for groundwater recharge about a week ago, in the southern San Joaquin Valley. I don’t know if they will increase that further with these additional atmospheric rivers.
I've read that recharging groundwater takes a lot longer than refilling a reservoir. I don't know how much that subsidence would prevent groundwater recharging. In my own SoCal backyard, "lawn lake" has returned big time. On rainy days like today, we can't even step out our back door without getting our feet soaked. I'm considering putting stepping stones there. Unlike many yards in my neighborhood, we haven't paved it over or built a rental unit or garage in our yard. We have about a 50x40 foot patch of "diverse lawn" which can theoretically serve to recharge some of our groundwater. We are on clay soil, however. And housing tracts are notorious for having a "hardpan" layer because of all the construction equipment driving over it when the houses were being built. So while I hope the water is sinking in, in reality I don't know if it's able to trickle all the way down to the water table, ever.
@@EXROBOWIDOW Yes, it does take a long time for water to infiltrate into groundwater, unless it is a very coarse material like the gravel we have in Pasadena and other places next to the mountains. Pasadena has its own infiltration ponds in the Arroyo Seco to enhance recharge. Every few years they scratch the bottom of ponds to break up any clay layer.
Subsidence is a very real issue, and is apparently an unrecoverable condition, because the ground collapses when the underlying, supportive, water is pumped out. Ground water recharge will not raise the collapsed aquifer layers to former height, unfortunately.
Mr Juan Brown I have followed you since you started covering Orville when the initial incident happened. And highly respect you. I can honestly say thank you for your due diligence and your solid reporting on the matter and with everything on your page. I love being a subscriber. I do though have yo ask what is your take on your precipitation intake on California versus where you’re at. I am the lifting of the drought/mandatory water restrictions? I know that you are up north and I am talking about down south, and I live in Colorado so most of southern California gets there water from us.
I found this channel in 2018, while being stuck on the couch, bothered by a nasty cold. I've been following ever since, watching the dam and the spillway being rebuild. It was kind of fascinating to watch the footage of the disaster of the dam failure, the destruction of the spillway and the untamed power of water. Even if the new spillway is currently working way under its highest capacity, I don't think I would like to see the scenario of 200.000 cfs. Surely would bring lots of damage, maybe to the structure of the construction itself and maybe to its surroundings.
areal views provided here are very informative. thank you. the Colorado river is still at all time lows in every reservoir, the southwest has had no drought relief. this is going to mean continued hardship for AG in Southern California, as it relies on out of state water .
If you have any questions about the Tulare Lake, I have a great information source that would love to tell you about it. It's my 90 year old Dad. He was the Kings River Water Master for about 25 years. He's still sharp as a tack.
california has plenty of water storage.. the lakes Juan talks about are only a fraction of the lakes within northern california. the reality is most of california's water storage is in the ground aquafers that we've been draining unregulated for the last 70+ years.
@sirmonkey (not being argumentative) How are they actually draining the aquafiers? If it's by general wells, then that would be in total water consumption. The problem is that droughts dry up the significant surface water, which does have an effect on the aquafiers, and then when the snow and rains return, the lakes are not big enough to store it all for a hot dry day. The issue will always be cyclical in nature, either not enough or too much. It's the in-between that is easiest.
Good news for farms in cali. This is where good mitigation in resource management is essential and California is top notch. Good luck guys and gals. This is where your university degrees make you look like a hero.
Juan , we certainly appreciate your skill in putting this information together ! I don’t think I would be informed on this if it wasn’t for your You Tube Chanel ! Including everything else you talk about ! You must enjoy it because it looks like a lot of work! Thanx Sincerely Mark H Wirth
Juan explains and shows us the different parts of the flood control system. It's good. Other channels talk only about numbers but don't show the different parts with an explanation as to what is going. It is on those channels one keeps on seeing the comments about how wasteful it is to release the water. Some people seem to think that it is better to let the reservoir fill up before letting any water out. That's an invite for flooding if that is ever done. On this channel I don't see crying out of mismanagement because of the water releases.
I don't suppose you would like to see a deep freeze right now, but I was thinking what a wonderland would be created by all that spray from the Oroville spillway. I've only been through one major ice storm and never want to see another. Very dangerous. Thanks for your great reporting, Juan.
Well Juanito, Here we are again, 5 years later. My morbid curiosity piqued and I had to come back to see if there's going to be another train wreck or if the construction is holding. So far, so good. Stay safe & healthy.👍
Back well over a hundred years ago and before the dams a steam riverboat actually ran a bit on Tulare lake and out the delta to the Bay area. There was also a small fleet of waterfowl hunters who had punt guns (think shotgun cannon) mounted to the bow of their small boats. Apparently feathers were a big deal in the latest in ladies fashion at the time. Juan, you might want to land at Harris Ranch for a burger or steak on your way back. Wouldn't be out of the way.
Pajaro got flooded due to the Uvas Reservoir in Santa Clara County. That reservoir caused the flooding in Gilroy and Hollister. The issue is the reservoir has been over 100% full since the beginning of the year and Santa Clara County Water District is not releasing any water to lower the elevation. It’s really the only reservoir that has been completely full for a while even during the time between storms. Don’t know if the outlet system is broken, bad management from the district, or a combination. Regardless, Uvas Creek has been a problem down stream from Uvas Dam and that creek feeds into other waterways that go through Pajaro.
Lookout for those F/A 18's down south L Tulare is big having been stationed at Lemoore and saw it full in '83. Also check and see if Emerald bay on L Tahoe is still frozen over.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Hello Juan! I was born and raised in Tulare and can remember as a 6 or 7 year old boy driving west of Corcoran ca.with my mom and dad just to see the lake as it would appear from time to time before the Pine Flat Dam was built to control the Kings River. We drove down a road that just disappeared into the water. There was an old broken down ferry that I felt sorry for because it was abandoned left to rot I guess. Looking to the west we couldn’t even see the shore which would have been where I-5 is today I suppose. Could have been 10 or more miles. I remember going over to fish the lake later on and I was amazed at the huge cattails growing everywhere. I was so disappointed when only in a few years later it was gone. Later on in life I worked for JG Boswell Co. in the great cotton fields that were farmed where the lake once covered. I remember watching crop dusters fly at night directed buy flashlights on the ground. I was told they would even fly under power lines. Fields were 1 mile X 1 mile. I am ready to go with you in my 52 Tri Pacer but I just remembered I sold it in about 1994. I've been watching you since Dam disaster days. You’re the best reporter out there.
I was born and raised in Corcoran. My dad used to run the water district and finally retired after about 50 years. I’ve seen that lake form a few different times, but talking with my dad, he is adamant that this will be a monster of a flood.
@@stephenmcvay2295 Your dad is right. Lucky there are not too many homes out there. I worked at a cotton gin. I think it was named El Rico???
@@MrDirt-zy1jp El Rico is still there, as a place, but not much more. The gin was ripped out years ago along with others in the area and shipped to Australia for their operations down under. Most of the area is now trees and tomatoes…with enough cotton to keep things interesting.
If you're talking Tulare Lake, I understand the Navy even had a flying boat base there.
Edit: Ah - it was Tulare Lake that was being talked about. Nice to see it making a comeback.
I enjoyed reading your story
I bet everybody is really happy that the remaking of the Oroville spillway was done, and done well, and completed in time for these extraordinary events. And that it's holding up well and able to take this work.
Expensive but well engineered and well built necessary infrastructure. Great to see tax money well spent.
These projects are a great investment, and will pay for itself many times over its lifespan.
Speedy choo-choo trains?
Not so much.
Don't speak too soon....
@@straybullittthe Jerry brown train that leads to no where who wouldn't wanna ride that beauty
@@Mr.Thermistor7228 there's always one naysayer...
You do such a good job keeping us up dated. Thanks Juan!
this is all public information.
Nevertheless, Juan Browne is exceptional in putting it together and presenting it concisely!
@@gregknipe8772 what does that have to do with anything? the compliment still stands, and I happen to agree
Juan, if you want to know about Tulare Lake, I can put you in touch with my dad. He ran the irrigation district there for roughly 50 years and has managed its reappearance a number of times. He’s just recently retired and moved out of state, but he knows the lay of the land as well as anyone. I spoke with him earlier this evening and sounds as though he is fielding calls from those running the situation this year and providing advice based on his experiences. I’m sure he’d be happy to help you with information. Let me know and I’ll get you two connected.
Lol! Yes, there is a Tule lake up north in Ca.We are concerned with the Tulare lake in Central Ca.The kings river drains into it from the Pine Flat dam east of Fresno CA. In the central valley ca.Every bad rain/ flood year, the (what was once Tulare lake) is used as a catch Basin for all of the flood water(excess water) from Pineflat dam along the Kings River which flows through Kings county/ Fresno county and Tulare County CA.
I hope that clarify, s what we are talking and worried about.
Guys, just to be clear, yes I am referring to what is academically known as Tulare Lake; however, being born and raised in Corcoran, it’s just known to many locals as Tule Lake. The lake was originally bordered with thick growths of tule reeds and is fed by the Tule River which is why many locals refer to it as Tule Lake.
Sorry for the confusion; I edited it to read Tulare Lake to avoid further confusion.
Wasn't that lake a old source of water for la still is if it's the one I'm thinking about
You might contact Juan by email. See the About page. In case he doesn't notice your comment.
Why’d he move out of state? Liberals chase him out?
The interesting thing about Tulare Lake is that it sits in an endorheic basin (no outlet to the ocean). The King, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers all used to flow out of the Sierra and end up in Tulare Lake. Only in very high water years did the lake rise high enough for some water to flow north into the San Joaquin River and eventually out to sea. Starting in the 19th century, all the rivers that fed the lake were dammed and the waters diverted (mostly for agriculture). The lake bottom is now farmed by large corporate farmers. In recent times, persistent groundwater pumping has led to a lowering of the lake bottom due to land subsidence. I will be watching to see how the reborn lake is pumped out later this year. Could be quite the project. It would be nice to restore some fraction of the lake as a wildlife reserve, but I doubt that will happen.
SoCal farmers are the biggest cry babies when it comes to water, so they’d probably have a meltdown if anyone suggested letting a lake naturally form while they’re not allowed to flood irrigate.
endorheic..... Please keep it family friendly! lol
Hi Juan. I followed all your updates during the spillway failure and rebuild. Currently, all the webcams from the spillway are blocked from being viewed in the UK, so its nice to get an update like this and see it actually running. Thanks for producing all that you do.
Why are the videos blocked?
@@ImpossiblyBlack It just says the cameras aren't available in your country - probably the DWR have set who can access them.
Time for a vpn
Use a VPN to get around the blocking. Use a server that's in the US. I had problem trying to get to a web site that was in England. I got in by using my VPN to use a server in England.
also it's a miss conception that the waters being "wasted". the high outflow is needed to clear out the entire delta system in california. due to the lack of outflow from the lakes through the drought there are a lot of areas that have become stagnant along with pushing out the brackish water that has slowly been creeping further and further inland.
Plus debris and silt accumulation that clogs and displaces true volume can become an issue. Sometimes you gotta turn it on full blast down the tubes.
You have to go down Tulare Lake and check it out. They are driving trucks into the levee then dropping dirt on them. some farmers are breaking the levees. Its going to get Wild down at the new old Tulare lake.
Tulare Lake still had enough water in it during WW2 to be used as one of the outlying seaplane bases for the Alameda Naval Air Station. Clear Lake, which is currently the largest natural lake in California, was also used as an outlying seaplane base for when weather did not permit landing on the frequently foggy San Francisco Bay.
That is really interesting! I would love to see old movies of them landing there. Maybe Periscope video will have some in there archives. I have been diverted many, many, many times trying to land at SFO in the fog!
This is endlessly fascinating to watch and listen to Juan explain how all of these water control systems work together and adjusting one flow truly does have a trickle down (ahem) effect on many other systems. I never even knew what a Wier was or how it works but I’m glad that other people do! It’s also nice to know that there is a level of unbelievable planning in SAFELY controlling massive amounts of water like this.
I've been avidly consuming printed info on the internet about the weirs and levee systems, I'm excited to find this channel showing me the system in action. Living in Yuba City so close to the Feather River, named of course for the migratory birds that used to fly in such giant flocks they darkened the sky! Who else remembers the flocks of birds? They've pretty much disappeared probably in part due to insect control, for instance I don't remember the last time I saw bats flying around at dusk.
7:42 FYI The Pajaro River's source is San Felipe Lake, just east of Gilroy; however, one of its major tributaries is the San Benito River, whose headwaters are south of Pinnacles.
Remember one year when I lived in Gridley and I could see the mist from the spillway from my house. It was in '84 or '85.
Thanks for the info from Norcal. Im in the central valley inbetween lake Kaweah & Success which are feeding the Tulare lake. Kaweah and Success are full and have already spilled through their emergency spillways for the first time in a very long time.
Thanks Juan! Gotta love that billion dollar view of the Oroville e spillway in operation. 👍🏻😁
Juan addressed my concern regarding wasting fresh water and sending it back to the sea. That's a touchy issue for us parched Southern Californians. Thanks!
4:57 "it's not like they're wasting the water" Well, in an era where we attempt to manage all water it can be argued it is exactly like they are wasting the water. We have had years of precipitation deficits and will have many more, so not to bank all the water possible when it falls in excess is foolish and wasteful. Just filling the surface reservoirs is not sufficient, not when we have nearly depleted California's natural fresh groundwater reservoirs, those need to be either replentished or accounted for before we consider any precipitation to be excess and simply allow it to flush through the system. Either that or California's farming industry is going to dry up, literally. California has a terrible history managing water resources, one look at the Los Angeles River is proof of that. It's great to see they are finally starting to make cosmetic improvements to that abomination, but it's not near enough.
@@RoySATX the next reservoir is expected to be finished in 2030, makes you wonder where their priorities are
Excellent stuff, Juan. Ever since the near failure of the dam, I have been watching this channel. Cali topography is insane. Knowledge of headwaters and flood plains so crucial.
Excellent report Juan ! This is why my wife and I really enjoy your content.
I remember Grandpa had a plack on the wall saying how he "saved the town of ???" when he was the live-on-site engineer for Mount Morris Dam (I think).
That balance of flood control is much more challenging than the standard "keep the generators turning" part of the job apparently.
Wikipedia says Rochester NY in 1972.
@@gordonrichardson2972 Apparently I was 6 or 7. I remember more about the generator rooms than the plack or where I was. Lol
The King of California: J.G. Boswell and...
by Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman
Is a good read about Boswell, and Fred Salyer growing cotton, blowing up each other's levies, draining Tulare lake, and growing more cotton!
The Joaquin River does not feed into Tulare Lake but does take some flood water from the Kings River which is probably the largest source of water for Tulare Lake.
Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake in the western U.S. (west of the Great Lakes), and is at the middle of a basin fed by the Kings, Kaweah / St. John’s, Tule and Kern Rivers. If my memory is correct, Tulare Lake was the largest lake in California in 1969.
Kings River splits into a pair of distributaries, the North Fork and the South Fork (not to be confused with the North and South Forks upstream in the Sierra Nevada). The a Weir controls the amount of water flowing into either branch.
The Fresno Slough diverges water from the North Fork and flows northwest, seasonally carrying floodwaters from the Kings River to the San Joaquin River at Mendota. This is the only branch of the Kings River to reach the San Joaquin, and consequently the Pacific Ocean during flood conditions. The remainder of the North Fork turns south below Fresno Slough, rejoining the South Fork west of Lemoore. During summer water can be brought down from the Joaquin River via canals.
The Kern which is in the southern valley historically could feed into Tulare Lake but probably is not doing so at this time (even with the large water flows, but don’t hold me to that).
The Harris Ranch Inn
& Restaurant has a runway that people fly into to take a break. The flooding of Tulare Lake should should be just southeast of Harris Ranch. You can go east past Lemoore NAS along 198 over to 99 and catch flooding of farm fields around the mentioned rivers that head towards the old lake basin. The Tule River which is a bit south of 198 is the river that has flooded parts of Portervillle.
An article and some historical film about Tulare Lake is available on this link:
abc30.com/tulare-lake-archive-footage-heavy-rainfall-severe-flooding/12988670/
Enjoy your reports Juan! Big picture guy that shows the relevant info and facts. I like how you joined the local paper to get access to Oroville and just kept at it. Great stuff sir!
Thanks Juan. You are doing a wonderful job with this. I can't believe the comments on here. Most people don't seem to have a clue, despite all of the good reporting that you have done. The only plus that I can see is that there wasn't a single comment about the green spot. Yet
I think you didn't read the comments. There's hardly anything offensive here, except maybe for that guy above who says we should put all the homeless to work or send 'em to 'Jersey. Man, some people! 😏
@@justaskin8523 Not having a clue and being offensive are 2 completely different things
I was reading about Tulare Lake and it would be really interesting to hear more from you about this. Thanks Juan!
I used to go to Tulare lake back in the 70s I never knew it was ever drained good reporting thank you
If I understand correctly, it wasn't so much drained, as it was deprived of the water from the rivers that used to feed it. Like what happened to Owens Lake and Mono Lake when Los Angeles diverted the water from the streams feeding them.
I remember when it was failing years ago and I was sharing information warning MILLIONS it was about to collapse. Glad to see it finally working to protect people
Juan, welcome to Tulare Lake! If you need a” tour guide” I’ve worked in the lakebottom in ag/farming for 10 years and know the area and water systems pretty well. The lakebottom and surrounding areas are taking on quite a bit of water right now from the 3 main dammed rivers and 3 more uncontrolled streams.
Thanks Tim
Does the water in Tulare lake need to rise to a certain level before draining into the San Joaquin river? Or is it trapped there?
@@blancolirioJuan - technically, there is a level that Tulare Lake can rise to before it naturally spills over into Fresno Slough/North Fork bypass, and go past the towns of Riverdale, San Joaquin, and Tranquility before it joins the San Joaquin River at Mendota Pool. At that level though that channel itself would become a widened out flowing "lake" and flood quite a bit of those towns, a lot of permanent crop farm ground, houses (including mine), and possibly NAS Lemoore. Hopefully it doesn't get that high. They'll try to push as much water north though that bypass, but it's flow rate is limited due to subsidence around Mendota and Firebaugh.
What I believe was done in either the 1983 or 1997/98 flood (I can't recall which), was that water from the already flooded Tulare Lake was slowly pumped back into that bypass at I believe Crescent Weir, and the lakebottom was slowly drained over the course of a few years.
Without the active pump-back into the San Joaquin system, water in the lake would just stay there until it slowly evaporated. The geology there consists of a very shallow brackish water table, and an impervious Corcoran clay layer just beneath that, so absolutely no way for that water to infiltrate deep underground.
Very fun video! If this were the 70's, I know my Sacramento-based scout troop would have taken a field trip to the dam to see the water, and the fully-functioning control of the dam. Superb! This brings back a lot of pleasant memories. Adventures always began with a troop-wide pancake breakfast so all the kids had energy to have a great time. I miss you, Mr Ramsdale. You were a great leader for us kids. You took us to see so many amazing things back then.
Dan Walters, a long-time journalist in California, had a nice write-up of Lake Tulare recently. If only CA had built a few more storage reservoirs in the past 40 years we could be storing more of this bounty for future use, but our legislators fumbled, fiddled and failed.
Oooh! I like the alliteration.
Thank you for sharing your insightful time.
Thanks Ray!
Im far from California ( Arkansas ) but watching this channel has got me keeping up with the water in California...Im so happy to see that you guys are finally getting some water!!!
I live in California and we've had our fill of water this year. I hope that each storm that has passed through will help feed lakes Powell and Mead. They really need it badly. Utah is also in bad shape.
@@Rhaspun yes it is!!
The waters between Traver and Goshen along 99 and our railroad tracks are as high as I've ever seen in my 9 years living in california and working for union Pacific. And the waters just keep on coming. Thanks Juan for all you do.
Definitely check out that lake down south! I’d love to see that
No rain in Crescent City but it's over cast and rain looks possible.
It's good to see no cavitation and that water is flowing very fast and easily over the new cement.
That's impressive, Juan. Seems the repair/rebuild has worked...so far. Thanks again from this Aussie.
Back to what originally got me turned on to this channel. Great report and shots from the drones. Bravo.
It's great to know that all that time, money and materials for the new spillway seems to be working to perfection! Thanks, Juan!!
I wonder what the decibel level is near the bottom of the spillway with these releases?
Kiewit does some dam good work that spillway looks amazing.
Thanks for the updates Juan. Here in San Luis Obispo County all of our lakes are full except San Antonio lake, its about halfway there but it was almost dry to start out with and its 16 miles long. The storm is hitting us hard here right now.
Interesting reading about the return of Tulare Lake, Huge. 8X the size of Tahoe when full, lotta water out there! Get some footage from the Husky Juan!
Thanks for keeping us updated on this story and how flood control is being handled that weir reminds me of the spillways here in Louisiana.
Another great synopsis, T. Thanks for sharing.
👍 THANKS AGAIN JUAN for keeping up the awesome "down home" common sense reality of what is happening out in your world!!! BE SAFE - GOD BLESS 🙏 😍😍😍😍😍
A good portion of the water will sock into the ground and eventually reach the underground water table. In Kern County Buena Vista dry lake area, we have large percolation pons pacifically to recharge that aquifer it is called Kern Water Bank. When Tulare Lake and Buena Vista dry lake or both filled , water in the San Joaquin Valley begins the flow back north. I have seen that condition twice in my lifetime. I believe that the Western United States has had less than average rainfall for the past two hundred years. When the Spanish Padres first traveled through California, they avoided the Southern San Joaquin Valley because it was a huge malaria swamp .
Thank you for the update the photos are amazing . my regards liz .
Love your content. I first found this channel as the original Oroville disaster started. I finally had to know the origin of Thermolito, and now I know it's a town on the Feather River.
You can swim (fish/sail/sailboard) in the Thermalito warmup basin - it is fairly shallow but it is COOOOOOOOOOLD water. My brothers and I had to take 30 minutes to ease in, my grandfather just walked right in, up to his shoulders.
I love your channel Juan you inform us without the bias of the media! Just showing the repairs going on at the Pajaro River shows you what the media doesnt cover. I watch the nightly news both local and national and haven't seen the videos of this. I would like to own one of those tracked dump machines!
Juan is so genuine on these updates, thanks again
The water is also not “wasted” as it helps recharge the aquifers down stream, and carries nutrients out to the ocean for marine life, both of which, California heavily depends on.
Oro Dam & spillway, “Weightless” by Aram B., and Juan’s informative updates - nice combo to close out my evening. Thank you!
Man those guys did a great job rebuilding what was potentially devastating problem. Kudos to the Engineers and Construction Peeps that did the work.
Thanks Juan...very informative, as always. Re: Tulare Lake, the Fresno Bee (Mar 21) had an article (editorial opinion piece) about intentional breaks in the levees that caused Tulare Lake to reform. This was apparently a criminal (intentional) act, done to direct or divert the excess water away from certain farm land. Tulare Lake has always been here in the San Joaquin Valey, but has been replaced with farmland.
Thank you, Juan! It's so wonderful to see the water flowing in Nor Cal again!
It's not because of anything smart that California's leaders have done, Catherine. It snowed. That's all. I hope California continues to renovate its dam system. But California STILL needs to implement widespread desalination. Because rain dances are not as effective as drawing the water right out of the ocean would be.
oroville,right where i found your channel several years ago ,full circle,,im not an aviation guy ,but you do such a great job on your coverage that i rarly miss a vid,,awesome job
Thank you, Juan, really enjoyed your update and perspective. Absolutely beautiful footage. So glad California is getting much needed rain. God bless all of the good folks in California, from a Texan :)
Watched on big screen TV WOW ❤ such gorgeous Vistas of Orville over flow
We’re in the SF Bay Area and are getting pounded with tons of rain and wind.
Looking forward to video of Tulare Lake. I read up on the history of this lake a couple years ago. It is amazing such a huge lake disappeared from the face of the earth.
Thanks Juan, as a northern California native your information is alway interesting.
y grandfather, W.A. Crocket, was hired by the Tulare Lake Land Company as its superintendent in the late 20s. He saved his money and gradually bought more and more land; by the late 1940s he was farming 82,000 acres in the Tulare Lake Basin (in addition to other lands near Los Banos) along with his business partner Albert Gambogy. He got out of farming a year before I was born, so I never got to see his farms in Tulare Lake. Your post today brought back memories of hearing my Dad talk about life on the ranch.
Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area is a pair of smaller lakes with a campground that is operated by Kern County. It's located in the lake bed of the former Buena Vista Lake, which in wet years used to flow/ connnect/ drain into places that eventually ended up in Tulare Lake. They were in the Tulare Lake basin, according to Wikipedia. It's all so confusing! Bottom line: that whole area used to be wetter.
We camped at the campground once. We did not find it suitable for tent camping, but a group from our church returns there every fall.
Those trees around that spillway sure look happy! I get that they need to make room for the snow melt but it sure would be nice if we could conserve some of the water somehow, considering how low we were. Although it also seems good for the rivers and all to get a good washing out to return their health. What's a weir? Such a relief to see our state get a good drink. We needed it in the worst way.
Thanks for sharing.
PS - curious about flying around an area where drones are also operated? How does everyone stay out of each other's way? Stay safe -
@@nancychace8619 I think drones are limited in how high they can fly in certain areas. 400 foot maximum.
Your friend and mine, Wikipedia, says "a dam is designed specifically to impound water behind a wall, whilst a weir is designed to alter the river flow characteristics. A common distinction between dams and weirs is that water flows over the top (crest) of a weir or underneath it for at least some of its length." Oxford Languages adds "an enclosure of stakes set in a stream as a trap for fish".
You get such beautiful footage of a variety of things that most of us never get to see. Thank You Juan. Finally Cali is getting life giving water. Down here in South Texas, we are going into a 5 year drought, I'm hoping an El Nino will help to resolve the dryness in our valley and into Mexico. All of these areas also produce mucho agriculture. We get tons of fruit and vegetables from the Texas Valley and from Mexico. Most people don't understand how much food Mexico produces for the U. S.
I did my first solo in a nifty 150 around the Sutter Buttes out of Sutter County in 1994. World's smallest mountain range.
I was told the Cascades mountain range stops and the Sierras start due east of the Sutter Buttes.
ty, jb...think i'll have a glass of water
Keep in mind that when you overflew it was 35K in and 26K out, but about half that going through the power plant, so when they increased total outflow to 35K, that extra 9K was all added to the spillway, adding like 75% more flow, which is why it looked so much more dramatic.
Thanks so much for your concise reports I have been following your channel ever since the oroville disaster
The licks by Aram Bedrosian in "Weightless" remind me of the opening licks by Eddie Van Halen in "Mean Street." 👍
well after all the money dedicated to rebuild the runoff at Orville , it is nice to see it is working and can start earning its keep . A lot of folks did make notes saying it may never get used , but ...as we see , it is and will be without failing and scaring of a flood ( worse than natural ) thanks for the updates
Thanks for the update Jaun enjoyed it
Thank you, always so informative. Watching from B.C. Canada.
With respect to Lake Tulare and the filling of the Yolo Bypass (which I know well, having spent 3 years at UC Davis in 1998-2001), I'd be interested to know what, if any, updates DWR (and others) are providing on the groundwater/aquifer situation. Especially in the southern San Joaquin Valley, land subsidence was becoming a real concern in 2015-2016, so it'd be interesting to know whether that concern has been assuaged by the winters of 2016-2017 and 2022-2023
Ask DWR directly
The state allocated 600,000 acre-feet for groundwater recharge about a week ago, in the southern San Joaquin Valley. I don’t know if they will increase that further with these additional atmospheric rivers.
I've read that recharging groundwater takes a lot longer than refilling a reservoir. I don't know how much that subsidence would prevent groundwater recharging.
In my own SoCal backyard, "lawn lake" has returned big time. On rainy days like today, we can't even step out our back door without getting our feet soaked. I'm considering putting stepping stones there. Unlike many yards in my neighborhood, we haven't paved it over or built a rental unit or garage in our yard. We have about a 50x40 foot patch of "diverse lawn" which can theoretically serve to recharge some of our groundwater. We are on clay soil, however. And housing tracts are notorious for having a "hardpan" layer because of all the construction equipment driving over it when the houses were being built. So while I hope the water is sinking in, in reality I don't know if it's able to trickle all the way down to the water table, ever.
@@EXROBOWIDOW Yes, it does take a long time for water to infiltrate into groundwater, unless it is a very coarse material like the gravel we have in Pasadena and other places next to the mountains. Pasadena has its own infiltration ponds in the Arroyo Seco to enhance recharge. Every few years they scratch the bottom of ponds to break up any clay layer.
Subsidence is a very real issue, and is apparently an unrecoverable condition, because the ground collapses when the underlying, supportive, water is pumped out. Ground water recharge will not raise the collapsed aquifer layers to former height, unfortunately.
Thank you for the update Sir!
Mr Juan Brown I have followed you since you started covering Orville when the initial incident happened. And highly respect you.
I can honestly say thank you for your due diligence and your solid reporting on the matter and with everything on your page. I love being a subscriber. I do though have yo ask what is your take on your precipitation intake on California versus where you’re at. I am the lifting of the drought/mandatory water restrictions? I know that you are up north and I am talking about down south, and I live in Colorado so most of southern California gets there water from us.
An amazing turnabout!
It’s really awesome to see engineering working the way it was designed. Hoping 2023 pulls cali out of its drought for a while. Keep the snow comin
I found this channel in 2018, while being stuck on the couch, bothered by a nasty cold. I've been following ever since, watching the dam and the spillway being rebuild. It was kind of fascinating to watch the footage of the disaster of the dam failure, the destruction of the spillway and the untamed power of water.
Even if the new spillway is currently working way under its highest capacity, I don't think I would like to see the scenario of 200.000 cfs. Surely would bring lots of damage, maybe to the structure of the construction itself and maybe to its surroundings.
areal views provided here are very informative. thank you. the Colorado river is still at all time lows in every reservoir, the southwest has had no drought relief. this is going to mean continued hardship for AG in Southern California, as it relies on out of state water .
If you have any questions about the Tulare Lake, I have a great information source that would love to tell you about it. It's my 90 year old Dad. He was the Kings River Water Master for about 25 years. He's still sharp as a tack.
You might contact Juan by email. See the About page. In case he doesn't notice your comment.
@@Graham_Wideman thanks
@@Graham_Wideman I can’t find his email on the about page.
Thanks for the update Juan!
Beautiful. I live up here and it’s amazing Oroville dam filled up from being a creek. Thanks for your video.
The rainbow was a nice touch, Juan.
This why California needs more water storage!
They have plans to build a new huge lake. To be online by 2032. But environmentalists are of course holding things up.
california has plenty of water storage.. the lakes Juan talks about are only a fraction of the lakes within northern california. the reality is most of california's water storage is in the ground aquafers that we've been draining unregulated for the last 70+ years.
@@nbt3663Where?
@sirmonkey (not being argumentative) How are they actually draining the aquafiers? If it's by general wells, then that would be in total water consumption. The problem is that droughts dry up the significant surface water, which does have an effect on the aquafiers, and then when the snow and rains return, the lakes are not big enough to store it all for a hot dry day. The issue will always be cyclical in nature, either not enough or too much. It's the in-between that is easiest.
Good news for farms in cali. This is where good mitigation in resource management is essential and California is top notch. Good luck guys and gals. This is where your university degrees make you look like a hero.
As always one great job it's always nice to have somebody who is informed and knows what the hell they're talking about
Juan , we certainly appreciate your skill in putting this information together ! I don’t think I would be informed on this if it wasn’t for your You Tube Chanel ! Including everything else you talk about ! You must enjoy it because it looks like a lot of work!
Thanx Sincerely Mark H Wirth
Juan explains and shows us the different parts of the flood control system. It's good. Other channels talk only about numbers but don't show the different parts with an explanation as to what is going. It is on those channels one keeps on seeing the comments about how wasteful it is to release the water. Some people seem to think that it is better to let the reservoir fill up before letting any water out. That's an invite for flooding if that is ever done. On this channel I don't see crying out of mismanagement because of the water releases.
I don't suppose you would like to see a deep freeze right now, but I was thinking what a wonderland would be created by all that spray from the Oroville spillway. I've only been through one major ice storm and never want to see another. Very dangerous. Thanks for your great reporting, Juan.
Beautiful drone shots.
Well Juanito,
Here we are again, 5 years later. My morbid curiosity piqued and I had to come back to see if there's going to be another train wreck or if the construction is holding.
So far, so good. Stay safe & healthy.👍
Thank You Juan for your help.
Great footage and info . You always hit it out of the park!
Back well over a hundred years ago and before the dams a steam riverboat actually ran a bit on Tulare lake and out the delta to the Bay area. There was also a small fleet of waterfowl hunters who had punt guns (think shotgun cannon) mounted to the bow of their small boats. Apparently feathers were a big deal in the latest in ladies fashion at the time.
Juan, you might want to land at Harris Ranch for a burger or steak on your way back. Wouldn't be out of the way.
Great video very professional and informative also the aerial shots make it all seem very real and your ending music is way cool
Pajaro got flooded due to the Uvas Reservoir in Santa Clara County. That reservoir caused the flooding in Gilroy and Hollister. The issue is the reservoir has been over 100% full since the beginning of the year and Santa Clara County Water District is not releasing any water to lower the elevation. It’s really the only reservoir that has been completely full for a while even during the time between storms. Don’t know if the outlet system is broken, bad management from the district, or a combination. Regardless, Uvas Creek has been a problem down stream from Uvas Dam and that creek feeds into other waterways that go through Pajaro.
Thank you for new update Sir.
Nice update Juan.
Its hard to imagine what the 'rain forest' would look like at 200,000 CFM!
Fantastic views and great information on Califórnia water house keeping 😎 Looking forward to your next aerial exploration. 👍
Thank You for sharing this video with us!
Much Love and Hugs
Awesome coverage as always
Lookout for those F/A 18's down south L Tulare is big having been stationed at Lemoore and saw it full in '83. Also check and see if Emerald bay on L Tahoe is still frozen over.