The water level in the lake is down further than I’ve seen since I’ve lived in Cascade Shores, or at least it seems that way. Scotts Flat Lake or should I say reservoir, what’s the difference? A lake is a body of water but a reservoir is different because it’s level is deepest at the dam and some other technicalities . Oh, well, I still like to call it a lake. If you really want to know the difference between a lake and reservoir go to Lakes & Reservoirs.
If you want to see the projected water level for Scotts Flat Reservoir that was prepared by Nevada Irrigation District, go to picture 5. I’m guessing from my pictures and the graph for water levels for Scotts Flat Lake that the present elevation is around 3,036 foot elevation. The high appears to be 3,062 feet in elevation. That’s a 26 foot drop which cuts the water storage in half, from 40,000 acre feet to 25,000 acre feet. An acre foot is one foot of water over one acre of land or 43,560 cubic feet of water.
Scott’s Flat is situated among the tall pines at the 3100-foot elevation nine miles east of Nevada City via Highway 20 and Scott’s Flat Road. It offers 169 campsites at two large campgrounds, plus a group camp. Across the lake, accessible via Red Dog and Quaker Hill Roads from Nevada City, is the Cascade Shores Day Use Area. As you can see from my pictures, there a lot of trees around the reservoirs, oops lake.
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This fall the Tahoe National Forest plans to accomplish approximately 1,200 acres of pile burning and 300 acres of underburning on the Yuba River Ranger District within Nevada, Sierra, and Yuba counties. Prescribed burn operations will begin this week and will extend through the fall, depending on current and predicted weather.
The planned pile burns are located in approximately 40 administrative sites across the district. Sites likely to be most visible include those along Highway 49 adjacent to Goodyears Bar; near Forest City; along Canon Point Road west of Downieville; west of Alleghany; in the Pendola Fire area; near Cascade Shores; and along Highway 20 east of Nevada City. Underburning will occur along Highway 20 east of White Cloud and north of Camptonville.
The prescribed burns will reduce the understory vegetation to enhance the chance of forest survival from high-intensity wildfire; improve wildlife habitat and forage; and re-create the ecological benefits from low-intensity fire.
The Forest Service will only initiate the burns with favorable weather conditions, including humidity, temperature, and wind speed and direction. Moisture levels within the vegetation itself are also considered. Forest Service fire managers work diligently with air quality management districts to minimize smoke impacts to the communities.
For questions regarding these prescribed fires, please call District Fire Management Officer Mike Cherry at (530) 478-6253.
The American River Fire continues to burn. Heavy smoke continues in the recent areas that I traveled, Nevada City, Grass Valley, Auburn and Roseville. As of this morning, 14,822 acres have been consumed by fire.
The fire is approximately 10 air miles northeast of Foresthill, CA, in steep, rugged terrain. While the fire is predominantly burning on the Tahoe National Forest within the North Fork of the Middle Fork American River drainage, there is a potential, given changes in weather or fire behavior, for the fire to threaten areas near Foresthill.
Active fire behavior continues on the eastern and southern flanks of the fire. Overnight, crews continued to build hand and dozer line to contain the active fire while evaluating future containment options. Firefighters will mop up and patrol containment line along Deadwood Road and Foresthill Divide Road south to the dozer line. Indirect line construction and mop up will continue down Deadwood Ridge. On the east side near Antoine, Manila and Screwauger Canyons, direct and indirect line construction will continue, with support of retardant drops.
Active fire behavior and roll out of burning material continue to be of concern, and will be closely monitored. Strong, erratic outflow winds and lightning may occur today, as the National Weather Service’s Red Flag Warning remains in effect until 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Active fire behavior in very steep, inaccessible terrain makes preparation of contingency lines critical. Indirect attack is the safest way to manage fire in areas of steep and difficult terrain.
American Fire perimeter August 20, 2013
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Smoke over Scotts Flat Lake August 13, 2013. Taken from my deck 830 am. Photo Credit John J. O’Dell
The smoke over Scotts Flat Lake was even worse this morning than yesterday. I was smart enough to close my sliding glass doors and turn on the air conditioner during the night. Some of my friends living in Grass Valley left their windows open and woke up to puffed eyes and sore throats.
The American fire is burning in heavy fuels on very steep slopes. The heavy fuels are creating large amounts of smoke The fire is located about 17 miles northeast of Foresthill in the Tahoe National Forest. Access to the fire is limited adding to the difficulty in fighting this fire. Firefighter safety is a concern.
Fire size is estimated at 1750 acres. The fire has burned across the North Fork Middle Fork American River and is burning both up and down the river drainage. The fire is being actively fought both directly and indirectly.
Multiple Forest Service and Cal Fire personnel are assigned to the fire. Currently 318 resources have been assigned including 18 crews, 16 engines, 4 helicopters, 5 dozers, 4 watertenders, and air tankers as available.
The Central Coast #7 Type II Incident Management Team has assumed managment of the fire.
Smoke is expected to impact Foresthill, Auburn, Nevada City, the valley and other areas for several days.
NID employees Chad Garvey, left, and Andrew Browning prepare to install a new water meter along Rattlesnake Road near Grass Valley
GRASS VALLEY – Treated water is now available in the Rattlesnake Road-Wheeler Cross Road area near Grass Valley, following a water line extension project completed this month by the Nevada Irrigation District.
NID and area property owners shared costs in extending a 16-inch main line from Dog Bar Road, across Wheeler Cross Road to the Rattlesnake Road intersection and 1000 feet north on Rattlesnake Road.
The job, with about 3000 feet of new pipe and three new fire hydrants, was completed for NID by C&D Contractors, Inc. of Nevada City. New pavement overlay has been added throughout the project area.
Chip Close, NID’s interim water operations manager, said the project progressed rapidly through planning, design and construction after contracts were signed with participating property owners. ”Our new customers were receiving water within nine months,” he said. ”Our contractor was able to take advantage of the dry weather and good working conditions this winter.”
Officials said the new pipeline is part of the district’s master plan and can eventually be extended across Rattlesnake Road to existing pipelines near Highway 174, depending on public demand.
District maintenance crews are now installing new water meters at the 13 parcels that participated in the water line extension project.
Area residents with questions about NID water public water supplies may contact NID Business Coordinator Shannon Matteoni at (530) 273-618
Scotts Flat Reservoir seems to be very close to the spillway elevation which is approximately 3074.8 feet in elevation. That’s the elevation in which the water starts flowing out due to increase in volume from rainfall or from release of water from upper dams. As of today, the elevation of the water is 3073 or about 1.8 feet from flowing over the spillway.
In the pictures above, you can see how close to the top of the dam the water is. Camping, fishing, swimming, sunning, boating, water skiing, sailing, board sailing and other activities are popular at Scotts Flat reservoirs in the Sierra foothills. Day use parks, campgrounds and beaches which is operated by a private operator under contract with Nevada Irrigation District.
Scotts Flat is situated among the tall pines at the 3100-foot elevation nine miles east of Nevada City via Highway 20 and Scotts Flat Road. It offers 169 campsites at two large campgrounds, plus a group camp. Across the lake, accessible via Red Dog and Quaker Hill Roads from Nevada City, is the Cascade Shores Day Use Area.
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The earliest settlement in Nevada County was made in the summer of 1848 at a place called Rose’s Corral which was located between the Anthony House and Bridgeport. Early in the spring of 1849 a group of mountaineers from Oregon known as the Greenwood Company mined for gold at Illinois Bar on the South Yuba River. They were followed by emigrants from Indiana. In the fall of 1849, the Greenwood Company made winter camp at Jefferson, and the Indiana group moved further upstream to Washington. In that same autumn that Captain John Pennington’s party struck rich diggings on Deer Creek and built the first cabin on Gold Run, the site that was to become Nevada City.
Originally a mining camp founded along Deer Creek in 1849, Nevada City rapidly became the largest and wealthiest mining town in California. At one point, Nevada City was the third largest city in California with a population of 10,000. Nevada City’s good fortune allowed miners and settlers to enjoy plush gambling establishments, hotels, saloons, and stores. However, like many big cities that sprang up quickly during the rush for instant wealth, early Nevada City shared a darker side of claim jumping, murder, brothels and opium dens.
By the 1850’s Nevada City’s wealth began to wane, and as miners moved on in search of new claims and stories of gold and riches, a quiet and quaint city emerged. Two fires in 1856 and 1863 raced through Nevada City almost completely wiping out the town. The beautiful architecture that stands today is testament to the will of the people of Nevada City who rebuilt the town completely not once, but twice.
Hydraulic mining, Nevada County, CA, 1866 Photo courtesy of http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
Nevada County was created in 1851 from parts of Yuba County because of the increase in population in the area and the distance to travel to courts which made it necessary to create a new county. The county was named after the mining town of Nevada City, a name derived from the term “Sierra Nevada.” The word nevada in Spanish means “snowy” or “snow-covered.” Nevada City has carried many monikers through its history; Caldwell’s Upper Store, Coyoteville, and Deer Creek Dry Diggings, but Nevada was chosen in the 1850s to give the town a cultured name.
Nevada City, CA, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In 1851 the newly formed Nevada County copied the name. The State of Nevada used the name 10 years later in 1861. The region came to life in the gold rush of 1849. Many historical sites remain to mark the birth of this important region in California’s formative years. Among them are the Nevada Theater in Nevada City, which operates to this day and once hosted Mark Twain among other historical figures. The gold industry in Nevada County thrived into the post WWII days.
The county had many firsts and historic technological moments. The first long-distance telephone in the world, built in 1877 by the Ridge Telephone Company, connected French Corral with French Lake, 58 miles (93 km) away. It was operated by the Milton Mining Company from a building on this site that had been erected about 1853. The Pelton wheel, designed to power gold mines, still drives hydro-electric generators today. Nevada City and Grass Valley were among the first California towns with electric lights.
Commemorating World’s First Long-Distance Telephone Line. Monument located in French Corral, California. Picture courtesy of http://www.noehill.com
The Olympics, NASA, and virtually every television station around the country utilizes video/broadcasting equipment designed and manufactured by Grass Valley Group, founded in Grass Valley. Electronic medical dosing equipment was first developed and manufactured in Nevada County. The first commercially viable picture-phone was developed in Nevada City. More than fifty high tech and applied tech companies, and more than one thousand hardware and software design and development professionals.
Judy J. Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in many publications.
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NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores taken May 2012 taken with my cell phone Samsung Galaxy Note
Residents of Cascade Shores east of Nevada City will be getting a larger, more reliable public water system, under actions taken Wednesday (May 23) by the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors.
The board voted to purchase 4400 feet of new eight-inch pipeline to replace deteriorating and undersized 4-inch and 6-inch main lines installed in the 1960s and 1970s by the developer of Cascade Shores. The new pipe will be purchased from low bidder Groeniger & Co. for $129,800.
The system improvement is planned along Cascade Loop, Cascade Drive and Artic Close and also includes nine new fire hydrants. NID maintenance crews are slated to begin installing the new pipeline in June.
The overall project is budgeted at $350,000 and is part of a systematic program to upgrade aging water infrastructure in four Nevada County residential communities developed in the 1960s and 1970s. An initial project was completed in Alta Sierra last year, an upgrade is now being completed in Lake of the Pines and an improvement at Lake Wildwood is planned for 2013.
Directors also awarded a $732,600 contract to T&S Construction, Inc. of Sacramento for construction of a new transmission main line along Highway 49 in North Auburn.
The water project will provide for more water and fire flow along the Highway 49 corridor from Locksley Lane to Quartz Drive. Work is expected to begin in June and be completed before winter.
Photo courtesy of Washington Hotel www.washingtonhotel.net
By Judy J. Pinegar
This little town in Nevada County is located on the banks of the South Fork of the Yuba River. It is located off Highway 20 between Nevada City and Interstate 80. Washington boasts a population on about 200, but that fluctuates seasonally and the town has a lot of tourist traffic in the summer.
Washington was founded in 1849, as were most of the cities in Nevada County; it was all about the Gold Rush!! These particular miners were from Indiana, so the settlement was first named Indiana Camp, but renamed to Washington in 1850. The area produced a large amount of placer gold, after that hard rock and hydraulic mines were established and were also very productive. Many people of Chinese descent worked in the area at these times.
The hotel in the town of Washington started with Hessel B. Buisman who was born in Holland in 1827, he landed in San Francisco in 1850. He originally kept a hotel in the town of Jefferson located near Washington from 1852 to 1857. He then came to Washington building a two story hotel which could accommodate up to 30 guests.
After the Buisman owners passed away, their daughter and her husband Eldridge Worthley kept the hotel for years. The hotel was called “The Worthley” or “Washington Hotel” and sat on the same site as the current hotel today. The hotel stable was across the street.
At 11 PM, August 16th, 1867 The Big Fire broke out in a nearby cabin. It jumped from house to house and destroyed almost every business downtown Washington including the Hotel. The hotel was rebuilt.
On April 21st, 1896 another fire started in the kitchen of the Washington Hotel. This fire destroyed the hotel and several buildings nearby. This time, Worthley had taken out fire insurance previous to the fire. The hotel was rebuilt as fast as the weather would allow. The picture shows the new and improved Washington Hotel after being rebuilt in 1896.
Photo courtesy of Washington Hotel www.washingtonhotel.net
The Washington Mining District was always served by operators of small stage lines. This photo shows the company stage of Prescott and Grissel. A daily trip used to leave The National Hotel in Nevada City at 7 AM and arrive in Washington around noon. This was used to rest between trips or take shelter from the weather. Now the drive only takes 25 minutes in your car.
Picture from the Red Ledge Mine in Washington. The gold/quartz veins occur in the sedimentary rocks close to the contact with serpentine. Mariposite is often in association with the serpentine, and in close proximity to the gold. Photo courtesy of http://www.mindat.org/loc-3515.html
The town of Washington currently consists of the Washington Hotel/bar, a restaurant, a grocery store, a one room schoolhouse that has educated students continuously for over 100 years, and two trailer park campgrounds
There are two trailer parks, Gene’s Pine Aire Campground and the River Rest Resort have been in business since the 1960’s with various owners. Campsites are often to capacity, so reservations are advised.
Old Vine cabernet from Chateau Montelena, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sierra Vintners is located in Nevada County, California between Sacramento and Reno/Lake Tahoe with easy access • off I-80.
Sierra Vintners wineries and tasting rooms are located throughout the Sierra Foothills and within the towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City, California.
Sierra Vintners is part of the Sierra Foothills American Viticultural Area (AVA), which was established in 1987 on the western edge of the Sierra Nevada: Roughly 160 miles long, stretching from Yuba County in the north to Mariposa County in the south.
Wine grapes were first planted here during the California Gold Rush, but like in so many California regions rich in wine history, serious wine making reemerged and flourished only within the past thirty years.
Sierra Vintners is a region of contrasts with dense forests, snow-capped mountains, golden valleys, and spectacular rolling vistas.
Like much of Northern California, the area has a classic Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and rainy winters that often include snow in higher elevations.
The characteristic cold winters are in fact quite conducive, allowing vines to go dormant, to rest and conserve energy for the coming season.
In the summer, the warm days and cool nights provide ideal growing conditions—producing grapes with ripe, concentrated flavors and balanced natural acidity—resulting in wines of distinction.
Vineyards are planted at elevations as low as 1,300 feet all the way up to 2,600. The region boasts over 60 miles of terrain between vineyards and as a result, the grapes display a diverse array of varietal characteristics.
Sierra Vintners produces an unusually wide variety of vines, boasting over 45 planted varietals. •
Nevada County’s four distinct seasons, and its range of elevations and landscapes, makes it a fertile home for more • than forty varieties of wine grapes, ranging from Chardonnay, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon to Cabernet Franc, Barbera, Sangiovese and Tempranillo.
PO Box 1552 • GrassValley, CA 95945 • 530.205.3016 • www.sierravintners.com
