This story in today’s Bee further illustrates, and we need to keep being reminded of it, how connected all of the water containment and control mechanisms are to the potential flooding that can destroy our neighborhoods, our businesses, and our Parkway.
Here is an excerpt, and note the final comment: "...But that might be differant in a bigger storm."
"A weir is a type of dam that holds water in the river during normal flows, but diverts overflow into bypasses when the river rises during flood conditions. The diversion reduces strain on urban levees, and prevents the major rivers from backing up into tributary creeks.
"The Sacramento Weir is the only operable weir on the Sacramento River. Built in 1916, it has 48 wooden gates, each of which has to be opened manually to allow water to flow into the Sacramento Bypass, which then connects to the Yolo Bypass.
"It was originally designed to maintain water velocities in the Sacramento River so that sediment produced by Sierra Nevada gold mining would not accumulate in the riverbed. Some flood control experts have suggested the weir should be opened sooner, or even left open all the time, to improve flood control in urban Sacramento.
"It deserves a current look," Supervisor Susan Peters said.
"At its meeting Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council directed its staff to begin discussions with the state about changing the weir's operating rules.
"The New Year's weekend storms dropped more than 3 inches of rain in 24 hours over many areas of the Sacramento metro area, though it was only considered a 10-year flood event on the American River, Pete Ghelfi, SAFCA's director of engineering, said.
"On some local creeks, however, the storm was bigger. Waters rose both faster and higher because of concentrated rain in the creeks' watersheds.
"The city's director of utilities, Gary Reents, said the weir's current opening criteria did not contribute to any local flooding in the city during the New Year's storms. But that might be different in a bigger storm. "
