How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Mop up continuing on Mill Fire; price tag tops $15 million
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Mop up is continuing in a vast area of the Mendocino National Forest where a wildland burned for a week and a half.
The Mill Fire, contained on Wednesday at 29,502 acres, began on Saturday, July 7, in the Colusa County side of the forest, 10 miles west of Stonyford.
A cause has not yet been reported for the fire, which has cost $15.4 million to date.
Forest officials said a new incident team took over command of the fire.
Approximately 536 personnel remained on the incident on Thursday, with crews working on patrol, mop up and repairs, with assessments on forest health also under way, the incident team reported.
Incident managers said that increasing temperatures and humidity are expected to result in smoke inside the fire lines, which is normal after a fire. Crews will be prepared to respond.
The team anticipates continuing to hold public meetings on the incident, as necessary, at the Stonyford Grange.
Closure orders for the fire area remain in effect, meaning bow hunters won’t be able to access that part of the forest for the recently opened archery season, the Mendocino National Forest reported.
All roads and trails in the recreation area outside Stonyford on the south portion of the Grindstone Ranger District also are still closed, as are the forest areas of Fouts Springs, Bonnie View and Board Camp Springs, and campgrounds within the Upper Letts Lake area.
The Bureau of Reclamation will reopen the East Park Reservoir near Stonyford on Friday. The reservoir was closed due to air quality conditions and the firefighting effort.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
WATER: DWR releases State Water Project Delivery Reliability Report
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released the 2011 State Water Project (SWP) Delivery Reliability Report.
The 2011 report is the latest in a series of reports on the delivery reliability of California’s State Water Project, the largest state-built and operated water and power system in the United States.
“California faces a future of increased population growth, coupled with the potential for water shortages and pressures on the Delta,” states the summary.
Water from Clear Lake eventually makes its way to the Delta. Clear Lake empties into Cache Creek, which leads to the Yolo Bypass, which in turn sends water into the Sacramento River. The river empties into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The newest report updates estimates of current (2011) and future (through 2031) SWP deliveries, taking into account pumping restraints to protect Delta smelt, salmon, and other fish species as well as variations in precipitation and impacts of climate change.
The perspective applied assumes no significant changes will be made to convey water past the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or to store the more variable runoff expected with climate change.
“This report is written primarily with the public in mind,” stated DWR Director Mark Cowin. “As a result, it not only provides updated information about the SWP’s water delivery reliability, but is also designed to educate Californians about the SWP and its operations.”
The SWP provides at least some of the water consumed by 25 million Californians and used to irrigate about 750,000 farmland acres. Of SWP water deliveries, about 70 percent goes to cities and 30 percent to farms.
Due to increased public interest in pumping water from the Delta, Cowin noted that a new chapter focuses specifically on SWP exports at the system’s Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant in the Delta.
The report documents that the SWP continues to be subject to delivery reductions caused by fishery agency Biological Opinions intended to safeguard threatened and endangered fish.
Analysts noted that population growth and recent-year legislation on water conservation are among key factors underscoring the importance of accurately assessing the SWP’s reliability of deliveries.
California’s population has grown rapidly in recent years.
From 1990 to 2005, the state’s population increased from about 30 million to about 36.5 million. Based on this trend, California’s population could exceed 47.5 million by 2020.
By 2050, the population could rise to nearly 60 million – virtually double the 1990 population – according to trends cited in the 2009 Update to the California Water Plan.
Legislation in recent years has focused on encouraging conservation and cutting water use. The Water Conservation Act of 2009 requires that the State of California reduce urban per capita water use statewide by 10 percent by the end of 2015 and 20 percent by the end of 2020.
The 2011 State Water Project Delivery Reliability Report is available online at http://baydeltaoffice.water.ca.gov or can be downloaded below.
DWR has issued these reliability reports since 2002.
DWR is legally required to prepare and distribute this report to all SWP contractors (those with contracts to purchase SWP water), city and county planning departments, and regional and metropolitan planning departments in the SWP’s service area.
2011 SWP Final Delivery Reliability ReportDetour scheduled for Nice-Lucerne Cutoff beginning July 23
NICE, Calif. – Caltrans said the construction of a roundabout on Highway 20 at the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff Road in Lake County will require a detour from July 23 to early September.
Nice-Lucerne Cutoff Road will be closed at Highway 20, and signs will be in place to direct traffic along Stokes Road.
Access to Sentry Market from Highway 20 will remain open by taking Stokes Road and turning right onto the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff.
The historic collision rate at this intersection is over five times higher than the statewide average for similar intersections, according to Caltrans.
Caltrans said the $4.6 million safety project – the total estimated cost at completion – will reduce the number and severity of collisions, provide sidewalks, and median islands constructed near the roundabout will provide refuge for pedestrians, allowing them to cross one direction of traffic at a time.
It also will lower vehicle emissions by lessening idle times compared to a traffic signal.
The contractor is Granite Construction Inc. of Ukiah.
Forest officials: Mill Fire fully contained Wednesday night
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – After a week and a half of scorching rugged terrain in the Mendocino National Forest, the Mill Fire was fully contained on Wednesday evening.
The fire – the cause of which still has not been divulged by investigators – broke out on the afternoon of Saturday, July 7, near Upper Letts Lake, 10 miles west of Stonyford in the Colusa County side of the forest, as Lake County News was first to report.
The most recent maps of the incident showed that its westernmost edge had pushed to within about a half-mile of the Lake County line.
Full containment came as the fire held at 29,502 acres, according to the unified command of Cal Fire, the Mendocino National Forest and Northern California Incident Management Team 2, which has been managing the incident.
As of Wednesday morning the fire has cost an estimated $13.9 million to fight to date, burned five outbuildings and caused four injuries, fire officials reported.
As a result of the fire there were campground evacuations as well as evacuations in some small communities.
There also were a number of road closures, including a Mendocino National Forest closure order for all roads and trails in the recreation area outside Stonyford on the south central portion of the Grindstone Ranger District, which remained in effect on Wednesday.
Of the 29,502 acres burned, 26,273 acres are managed by the U.S. Forest Service; the Bureau of Land Management manages 1,572 acres; with the remaining 1,657 acres being privately held.
Transfer of command from the Northern California Incident Management Team 2 Team to a Mendocino National Forest Type 3 team will take place at 7 a.m. Thursday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
