Falling levels on Folsom Lake mean boaters must leave marina

For the first time in 14 years, plunging levels at Folsom Lake are forcing boat owners to pull out their vessels from the marina before July 4 – or have them stuck in mud.

Drought conditions are hitting hard on recreational boaters who are at the mercy of the rise and fall in the reservoir based on water needs elsewhere.

Water managers had anticipated the minimum water level for floating boats at the marina – 412 feet – would not be reached until July 13, but on Thursday, the date was revised to July 2.

"This is very disappointing to see the water down so soon," said John Poimriioo, past president of the Folsom Yacht Club. "It will be a shame to have the boats pulled. There's a sense of loss. A little bit of the soul of the place is gone."

Boaters, who have paid marina fees a year in advance, will have to pull their boats into a parking lot or park them elsewhere. To use the lake, boaters will have to launch from ramps, which generally creates long lines and adds as much as an hour of maneuvering in and out of the water.

About 600 boats are floating at Folsom Lake Marina at Brown's Ravine. Last year, boats had to be hauled out on Aug. 1. A flush year in 2006, boats stayed in the water until Dec. 1.

The average lake level for this time of year is 444 feet. The last time boats had to be hauled out before July was in 1994, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The worst year, in 1977, when the lake shrank a half-mile from the shoreline, the water level plummeted to 376 feet by June.

As water drains from the lake, more hazards, like boulders and islands, emerge, which could eventually mean a speed limit of 5 mph for all boats.

For some, it's too much.

"Everyone is equally disgusted," said Karen Preston, owner of a 26-foot sailboat. "We don't question our decision to own a boat, but we are questioning whether to keep it at Folsom."

The man-made reservoir was tapped earlier than expected for other duties, including sending water into the Delta for agricultural use, said Lynette Wirth, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

"We forecast the best we can," she said.

Preston, who heads a sailing club at the lake, said boaters have been told by various government representatives that recreational use at the reservoir will always be the last priority.

"But we still pay a heck of a lot for it," she said.

Preston, who heads up a sailing club with 41 members and their families, said that boaters who don't own the equipment to haul the boats won't be able to launch from ramps. They're beached for the season.

She and her husband, who live in Sacramento, liked heading to their boat after work for evening sails, but the time to get the boat in and out of the water kills that pleasure, she said.

They are talking about coughing up more berth fees somewhere else for the remaining season, she said.

Poimriioo, a sailing buddy of Preston's, can watch the lake shrink from his El Dorado Hills home.

"There's all kinds of power boats racing around," he said Thursday. "The peninsula between the lower and upper fork of the American seems to be growing every day."

He keeps his 13-foot dinghy in his garage and can easily get to the lake to sail, but he believes dropping water levels discourage prospective boaters and change the character of the lake.

"There's this emotional effect when they see all the boats out of the water," he said. "People will say, 'Oh, my gosh, I shouldn't be doing this.' "

Boats on asphalt also discourage the longtime ritual of people gathering on their decks for the evening just to relax, he said.

Revenue at the lake, a state park, also could drop with the water levels, said Dan Tynan, the superintendent of the Folsom sector of the state Department of Parks and Recreation.

Another blow for boaters could come if the water level drops to 400 feet: The required 5-mph speed limit would mean no water skiing or wake-boarding.

In the meantime, unseen hazards just beneath the surface create safety hazards even more treacherous than the emerging rocks. "It becomes a real public safety issue," Tynan said.

Rattlesnake Bar and the Peninsula Campground boat ramps have already been closed because of receding water. Ramps at Granite Bay, Folsom Point and at the marina at Brown's Ravine are open, Tynan said.

"I wish there was something we could do, but there's not," he said.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106. Bee staff writer Bill Lindelof contributed to this report.