Dam releases send water surge barreling toward Stockton
Greg Kane and Dana M. Nichols
Record Staff Writers
Published Thursday, Apr 6, 2006
A torrent of water rushed toward Stockton and other cities Wednesday as dam operators
worked to lower reservoirs brimming from weeks of downpours.
And if the storms continue, federal officials warned, a large dam upstream of Stockton might
have to spill more water than the Calaveras River can hold, potentially flooding some San
Joaquin County homes and businesses.
Meanwhile, emergency officials forced evacuations of some Valley Springs homes because of
concerns that a small foothill dam could fail and inundate residents. The Calaveras County
Board of Supervisors held an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to declare the county
a disaster area, the first step toward gaining a similar declaration - and money - from state
officials.
For now, most San Joaquin County officials believe the earthen levees protecting the area will
hold back the flows rushing from large dams.
The releases from New Hogan Reservoir in Calaveras County and Friant Dam near Fresno totaling a combined 125,000 gallons a second, or enough to fill an Olympic-size pool every five
seconds - sent swift, high flows down the Calaveras and San Joaquin rivers.
The Calaveras River has historically caused floods in Linden and downtown Stockton; the San
Joaquin is a concern for residents in the south county, particularly Manteca and Lathrop.
Phil Holcomb, Northern Operations Area Manager at New
Hogan Dam, monitors the release of water Wednesday
afternoon. Holcomb said the waterway can carry 12,000
cubic feet per second. New Hogan Reservoir was nearcapacity Wednesday afternoon and officials were set to
increase discharges from the dam.
Credit: CRAIG SANDERS/The Record
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boosted dam releases to make room in flood-control
reservoirs that had grown to near capacity with the recent storms. New Hogan came within 11/2
feet of its 713-foot target level on Tuesday, said Duane Johnson, a resource manager with the agency.
Ron Baldwin, San Joaquin County's emergency services director, said the water released from
New Hogan put added pressure on levees along Mormon Slough and the Stockton Diverting
Canal.
"It's well within channel capacity, but it's a lot more than what people are used to seeing,"
Baldwin said. "If there had been another day of rain, I'm sure we'd be talking about a much
more serious situation."
Weather forecasts for the next few days will tell a lot about how much more water will be
released from New Hogan. Johnson said Wednesday that, depending on how severe storms
are in the coming days, the dam may be forced to make releases that would be "beyond
channel capacities for the river to hold."
Calaveras County was also hard hit by the rains, which could return by the weekend, according
to the National Weather Service.
Workers use a backhoe to move large rocks into position
at the base of the erosion of a small earthen dam holding
back a 3-acre pond in the La Contenta area near Valley
Springs
A small dam in danger of failing forced
the evacuation of 65 homes in the La
Contenta Golf Course subdivision in
Valley Springs. Residents of at least
Credit: CRAIG SANDERS/The Record
another 15 homes there began removing
belongings left behind while they fled the fast-rising waters of Cosgrove Creek on Tuesday.
John Beckett, 52, lives on St. Andrews Road, one of the hard-hit neighborhoods along
Cosgrove Creek. Beckett, a contractor, built the bottom floor of his home several feet higher
than other homes in the neighborhood, so his house was spared.
But his carefully finished, insulated garage was not.
A mint-condition 1959 Ford Thunderbird convertible that belonged to Beckett's mother was
among the items damaged. "There was no time to get it out," he said. He estimated the damage
Dave Capece talks about the flood damage to his home
to his office and shop alone at $50,000.
on St. Andrews Drive in the La Contenta area near Valley
Springs. He had about two inches of water in the house
Just down the street, Vince Cammisa,
75, was also astonished at how quickly
the flood hit.
Credit: CRAIG SANDERS/The Record
The force of the water of Cosgrove Creek blew in the two bottom panels of his garage door,
knocking over items the family had stacked in hopes of keeping them above water. Furniture
left in the home was destroyed, he said.
"It was waist-high in our driveway," Cammisa said. "My wife had to be carried out."
As his family worked to remove items from the house, 18-year-old daughter Katie found a 4inch-long turtle. It's now the family pet.
"We should call him 'Flood,' " she said of the turtle.
Many rural residents living along Stockton's Mormon Slough weren't concerned about potential
flooding Wednesday. Jonna Letsinger has lived for more than a decade on a walnut orchard
about 50 yards south of the levee. She said the water wasn't close to levels that would have her
concerned.
"It was higher than that a few years ago," Letsinger said.
Rocky Guadagnolo, a farmer who owns an orchard along the slough's northern levee in Linden,
said the levees are high enough that flooding doesn't become a major concern. It's
downstream, where the water hits the city, that it becomes a concern, he said.
"When it starts going into the (Diverting) Canal, then it gets going," Guadagnolo said.
Flood-control officials increased water releases from
New Hogan Dam on Wednesday afternoon as the
reservoir approached its capacity, sending a cascade of
runoff downstream toward Stockton. Officials say if the
storms continue, the discharges could exceed the
capacity of channels
Credit: CRAIG SANDERS/The Record
The high releases, coupled with runoff from other streams and creeks, left only a few feet to
spare in the narrow canal, which dumps back into the historic Calaveras River bed just east of
West Lane. University of the Pacific students gathered on a campus footbridge over the
Calaveras River to take pictures of the water they say was much lower
only a few days ago.
"There was an island there last week," said junior Jeremy Hillgert,
pointing to a tuft of branches poking out of the fast-moving water.
Robert Tuitavuki of the Stockton Fire Department said Wednesday that
the city's primary concern from the high releases was water safety, not flooding. The currents are faster and more dangerous
than normal and can be deadly for people who enter the water, he said.
"We want to avoid a tragedy occurring where children, fishermen or adults get too close to the water's edge and get swept up in
the current," Tuitavuki said.
Friant Dam, which releases water into the San Joaquin River, was releasing more than 67,500 gallons a second on
Wednesday to lower the reservoir, said Art Bentley of the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services.
Residents along the San Joaquin in the southern parts of the county removed equipment, cattle and other items from low-lying
properties near the river in anticipation of higher flows. Alex Hildebrand, a Manteca-area farmer and member of the South Delta
Water Agency, said the water was running 22 feet deep Wednesday and was expected to reach 26 feet by Friday.
"We've got a lot of water on the way," Hildebrand said. "And most of it isn't
here yet." The levees aren't considered at risk until the water reaches 28
feet, he said.
Just north of the San Joaquin County line, two levees failed along the Cosumnes River. The
failures, located west of Highway 99 near Twin Cities Road in Galt, flooded nearly 2 square miles
of farmland with 2 feet of water, said Michael Miller, a spokesman with the state Department of
Water Resources. A levee on the other side of the freeway in Galt failed during Tuesday's storm.
Rob Houghton, director of public works for Calaveras County, said a number of roads remained
closed Wednesday due to flooding or rock slides. He said residents of the Diamond XX
subdivision on Highway 4 were stranded due to a flooded road and that county crews were
making repairs and hoped to have the road there in usable condition by Wednesday night.
Mobile home residents in the Mossdale area near Lathrop were asked to leave the area around
the San Joaquin River. San Joaquin County Sheriff's Officials played down the importance of
those evacuations, noting that it happens at least once a year. Officials said the levees around the
area seemed secure.
Sandbags for Calaveras County residents can be obtained at the Government Center, 891
Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas; at the Public Works Yard, at Milton Road and Baldwin Road
in Jenny Lind; and at the Foothill Fire Protection District station on Highway 12 in Valley Springs.
Contact reporter Greg Kane at (209) 546-8276 or gkane@recordnet.com
Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 754-9534 or dnichols@recordnet.com