Monterey County Release
Lake Nacimiento will be 20 percent full by Labor Day
Apr 23, 2018 06:50 AM
Lake Nacimiento will be 20 percent full by Labor Day. Where does all the water go?
BY LINDSEY HOLDEN
lholden@thetribunenews.com
One year removed from a particularly rainy winter, Lake Nacimiento landowners and boaters are facing a summer recreation season of dramatically lower water levels.
By Labor Day, Nacimiento will be too low to launch boats from most private ramps that dot a lake that has 163 miles of shoreline when it's full.
That's because Nacimiento — which has a total capacity of 377,900 acre-feet — is less a lake and more a huge agricultural reservoir used by Salinas Valley landowners in Monterey County.
Since it was built in 1957, recreational users, farmers and environmentalists have spent decades jockeying for control of the lake's water — a resource that has increasingly become like liquid gold.
This year, Nacimiento is expected to contain about 20 percent of its water by Sept. 1, down from 51 percent on April 18.
Nacimiento as a reservoir
So where does all the water go?
To read the rest of the article click here
BY LINDSEY HOLDEN
lholden@thetribunenews.com
- April 19, 2018 01:12 PM
One year removed from a particularly rainy winter, Lake Nacimiento landowners and boaters are facing a summer recreation season of dramatically lower water levels.
By Labor Day, Nacimiento will be too low to launch boats from most private ramps that dot a lake that has 163 miles of shoreline when it's full.
That's because Nacimiento — which has a total capacity of 377,900 acre-feet — is less a lake and more a huge agricultural reservoir used by Salinas Valley landowners in Monterey County.
Since it was built in 1957, recreational users, farmers and environmentalists have spent decades jockeying for control of the lake's water — a resource that has increasingly become like liquid gold.
This year, Nacimiento is expected to contain about 20 percent of its water by Sept. 1, down from 51 percent on April 18.
Nacimiento as a reservoir
So where does all the water go?
To read the rest of the article click here
Pillaging Lake Nacimiento - New Times SLO Article
Apr 13, 2018 12:58 PM
Pillaging Lake Nacimiento
We need a new agency and officials to manage this precious resource
BY AMY LEHMANN
Pillaging: To strip ruthlessly of all valuables by open violence, as in war; to plunder, despoil, abuse, and mistreat.
This describes what the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) is about to unleash upon Lake Nacimiento, a very large residential environment and unsuspecting wildlife population's habitat (which straddle the border with San Luis Obispo County). Both depend on the lake and its watershed's natural water resources.
The MCWRA's controversial and ongoing mismanagement of Lake Nacimiento water releases is one bone of contention in the ongoing saga of the Save The Dragon movement. The movement is trying to save the rain and water runoff that come into the reservoir from the very organization that was put in place in 1957 to protect it. While Southern and Central Californians are trying to preserve water in reservoirs around the state, our "protection agency" is draining our precious resource as fast as it can, with absolutely no reflection on the welfare of the residents or the wildlife that inhabits the lake and surrounding forests. The MCWRA does not negotiate in good faith, with good conduct or with good intentions. Read More...
We need a new agency and officials to manage this precious resource
BY AMY LEHMANN
Pillaging: To strip ruthlessly of all valuables by open violence, as in war; to plunder, despoil, abuse, and mistreat.
This describes what the Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) is about to unleash upon Lake Nacimiento, a very large residential environment and unsuspecting wildlife population's habitat (which straddle the border with San Luis Obispo County). Both depend on the lake and its watershed's natural water resources.
The MCWRA's controversial and ongoing mismanagement of Lake Nacimiento water releases is one bone of contention in the ongoing saga of the Save The Dragon movement. The movement is trying to save the rain and water runoff that come into the reservoir from the very organization that was put in place in 1957 to protect it. While Southern and Central Californians are trying to preserve water in reservoirs around the state, our "protection agency" is draining our precious resource as fast as it can, with absolutely no reflection on the welfare of the residents or the wildlife that inhabits the lake and surrounding forests. The MCWRA does not negotiate in good faith, with good conduct or with good intentions. Read More...
Water Flow Chart Into and Out of Lake Nacimiento
Mar 23, 2018 06:53 AM
Current Water Flow In and Out of Lake Nacimiento
Monterey County continued with thier releases even during the rain. It wasn’t until after we started getting the major flow into the lake that they slowed the releases.
Right now we are currently at 50% full. With the flow of the salinas river without the need of Naci let’s hope that Monterey holds the water in Naci for as long as they can before releasing it.
Remember, Any water that flows out of Naci and goes all the way to he ocean is wasted water.
Chart of the water flow into Lake Nacimiento - USGS Data

Chart of the Water flow out of Lake Nacimiento - USGS Data

Lake Levels during this past rain event - Monterey County Data

LETS SUPPORT NRWMAC IN THE EFFORT TO FORCE MONTEREY TO MANAGE THE LAKE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF EVERYONE.
Monterey County continued with thier releases even during the rain. It wasn’t until after we started getting the major flow into the lake that they slowed the releases.
Right now we are currently at 50% full. With the flow of the salinas river without the need of Naci let’s hope that Monterey holds the water in Naci for as long as they can before releasing it.
Remember, Any water that flows out of Naci and goes all the way to he ocean is wasted water.
Chart of the water flow into Lake Nacimiento - USGS Data

Chart of the Water flow out of Lake Nacimiento - USGS Data

Lake Levels during this past rain event - Monterey County Data

LETS SUPPORT NRWMAC IN THE EFFORT TO FORCE MONTEREY TO MANAGE THE LAKE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF EVERYONE.