by Jack Lee
Lake Oroville was so low it had only one last launch ramp, that is, if you happen to have a 4-wheel drive with those big monster truck tires, otherwise you would be stuck in some mud hole or high centered on piles of drift wood. (The lake hasn’t been this low for 30 years).
Well, the rains have come…finally! In some of the upper mountain areas, like around Lake Almanor, they have had over 108 inches of snow in recent days. The soft snow is bad for getting around, you can’t even drive a snow cat on, it just sinks! In Tahoe, there is now ample snow pack, but the recent rains have made it slushy. Now the 5-day weather forecast says rain, rain and more rain with more snow in the Sierras.
Out here in the flat land, south of Chico, around 7 Mile Lane to Butte City, this usually means the runoff canals breach their banks and form miles of shallow lakes that close down highways and bring flood waters to the door steps of many local farms, even though every farm house around here is built on high ground.
I recall a few years ago using my 2.5 ton military truck to drive down Hwy. 162, which was impassable to any vehicle with floorboards less than 4 feet off the ground. That was kind of fun, a combination of boating and trucking. But, for a lot of passenger cars it was the end of the line and a long diversion to other highways.
I doubt the water will get that high this year, but if it did I am looking forward to breaking out the kayak and boating across the submerged wheat fields and through hundreds of acres of orchards. In a high water year we can actually boat from the ranch house (near Butte City) to General Store in Afton which is about 3 miles away. Of course it’s never more than knee deep, but it’s the feeling of being on a surreal lake of trees, with pump houses and telephone poles sticking out of brown flood water.
I’m told this rain will help close that 60% of normal to a near normal year, which is a good thing because up till this point we’ve been flirting with the idea of we could be in a draught. For farmers in this area of the Sacramento Valley, a draught is about the worst thing that could happen, next to a recession that drives down commodity prices.
Well, thats my winter rain report from beautiful Butte City, population 60. Hey, don’t laugh, Afton is the next nearest place and it’s population is 10..well it could be 11 by now, but I’ll have to get back to you on that one. .