Casitas up 15 feet+backstory on lack of water from storm

Kelly Ripa · Post by **Kelly Ripa** » Sat Jan 14, 2023 12:47 pm

I hiked to Coyote Launch ramp and took a peek at the lake. The lake is up 15 feet. One more foot and the “road” we drove on to the launch ramp will be under water. The diverter is not running and here is the full story as I know it to be about that

Two years ago and three years after the Thomas fire A contractor was asked to give a bid on the replacement/repair of a wooden structure that was used to reinforce the Robles diversion and was burned/damaged in the Thomas fire. It was built in case to much water is coming down the canyon and is overwhelming the dam He was contracted by the Casitas water board to do the work and he had put material on site with a date to start from the board when it was stopped. Another person on the board had separately from the main board contracted a different contractor who under bid the project that the other contractor had a signed deal with from the entire board. Can you say breach of contract? And?
So 5 years after the fire nothing it appears was done. The first contractor went up the river on the Jan. 9th or 10th and has a 2 minute video on face book showing some of the washed away burned retaining wall laying downstream of the over whelmed diverter and this story as I have relayed it.
I was told by the lake staff that they are working crazy hours at the site to remove the silt and debris from the system. Digging a diversion canal in the silt to get the water diverted. A diverter for the diverter?They are hopeful that the band aid will be in place in a week to get some more water into the lake.
When I gazed from the Coyote launch ramp went across the lake to where the 150 is. All I could see was where the water and rocks on the opposite hill from the launch ramp had flowed uninterrupted from the hilltops past the road and down to the lake in areas. It looks like that ½ mile of the 150 is buried for a while I would think as you aren't supposed to drive past the barriers at Santa Ana. creek across the 150.
Because I was able to go in to the lake I was able to drive over Santa Ana creek. At it's present flow now I stopped and looked between the cement walls of the bridge and you can only see light through one of the the three tunnels because of the wood stacked up on the other side of the 150. The water coming over the road would have been something to see from the lakeside. 20 foot waterfall into the campgrounds? In summary It was all routine maintenance that killed the whole system at this lake. With 5 years to fix it all the blame goes totally on the board. Criminal in the case of stewardship for the last 15 years or so.

Ripa

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Sun Jan 15, 2023 8:20 am

Kelly, I'm surprised they didn't blame all this on the Quagga mussel again.

I'm sure someone on the water board is making money from this.

Jboutfishn · Post by **Jboutfishn** » Sun Jan 15, 2023 10:46 am

Total incompetence or criminal? Who would be responsible for investigating?

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Sun Jan 15, 2023 11:45 am

Excellent report Kelly

It sounds like you will be launching at the marina ramps.
Tom

Post by **WB Staff** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 4:49 am

From Lake Casitas Boat Rentals
Update!! I was told by a lake official we could be fully open as soon as Wednesday or Thursday next week.

Kelly Ripa · Post by **Kelly Ripa** » Sat Jan 21, 2023 8:11 am

While the lake might be up..... The amount of silt that poured in will never be known. Diminished capacity makes it easier to fill. I understand that Cachuma has twice the flow from the Santa Ynez watershed as Casitas but the most interesting thing I have learned is both Casitas and Cachuma are the are the most heavily silted flowing water systems in North America. I wouldn't want to plan for that and it looks like neither has.

pd · Post by pd » Sat Jan 21, 2023 6:30 pm

Yeah the silt issue is real. Last week when the Santa Ynez River was really getting going, the Cachuma operators released a statement that was covered in the news saying they were actually going to start releasing major water downstream from the dam way BEFORE full pool. Sounds like they were panicking about potential flooding downstream. A couple days later they apparently reconsidered that plan and have kept the gates closed and allowed the lake to keep steadily filling.

Naci panicked, dumping huge amounts out downstream before the lake was close to filling.

The people who make these decisions don’t always make good ones. Casitas is a prime example of water mismanagement.

Meanwhile, Cachuma and Lopez both are punting on saying when they’ll be open to boaters again. Lots of excuses like too much debris (Cachuma) and too much damage to the park (Lopez). Hmm…