New Melones Detour Once Again!

   Yesterday, my daughter, Amber, and her son, Giovanni, and I headed to the hills.  Our destination was Murphys, a picturesque town at 2100 feet in Calaveras County.

   Once again, my Nissan Maxima took a detour to Tuolomne County.  And this time, Amber was driving!  Instead of the vineyards between Vallecito and Murphys we saw that the road to our right was a sheer drop to a canyon of evergreen.  Soon, we came up on a almost unrecognizable site.  We were divinely led to see the heartbreaking state of a very, very dry New Melones Reservoir.

   Today, New Melones has 543,495 acre feet in storage.  The total capacity of the reservoir is 2,420,000 acre feet.

   In August, Stockton East Water District determined that no irrigation water from New Melones Reservoir will be available to the district's water users past mid-August.

An even scarier photo of  New Melones.

   I am continually amazed at the number of people who say that the drought is over!  Even one of our presidential candidates has visited California and uttered those words.  He apparently did not visit New Melones.
An upside to this dreary news is that we passed Natural Bridges on the way to the reservoir.  Cars were parked on the shoulder of the road, so there had to be water down there for people to enjoy!  We saw a woman carrying a kayak.
Natural Bridges Calaveras-county
   Amber had never before seen Natural Bridges, and she felt that she and Giovanni were led to discover a cool place to hike and enjoy the water!
Look here for future blogs about Natural Bridges.

Monterey County's Best Kept Secret: Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge

Today's post is not an activist post, but instead, an informational one about a beautiful water area that we visited ten days ago.

This refuge is in such an unobtrusive location that we almost drove right by.  On CA-183 N, our GPS was telling us that we had arrived at our destination.  All we could see was a dirt agricultural road ahead of us, flanked by strawberry fields.  I thought the GPS was mistaken.  However, Jim spotted the brown U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service sign up ahead at the end of the field.
We drove up the dirt road.  The field road is the only access to the refuge! We wondered: How many people drive by that sign, see the dirt road, and decide to skip it because Mapquest, or the GPS must be mistaken?
Once again, we were divinely led to a beautiful sanctuary. We had experienced another metaphysical event.  We were supposed to be there.

We visited on April 24, and everything was in full bloom!

Breathtaking wildflowers.

 The refuge is nature at its best!

Salt Marsh with Gabilan Mountain Range in the background.

We took the beach trail, which is about a 20 minute walk from the 
entrance to the beach.  On the way, we encountered many fishermen/
women walking back to their cars.  The first couple we spoke to had
 a good-sized perch in their creel.  The others we asked all had the
 same reply:  "No keepers.  We threw them back."

We saw a pair of Mallards.

The refuge is packed with wildlife--especially during the spring and fall.
  The NWRS (National Wildlife Refuge Salinas) brochure states that
 the  American goldfinch and Wilson's warblers are common spring
 migrants to view.  There are also warnings to stay on the trail: 
 Plovers make their nests on the dunes, and walking there can disturb
 the nests and keep the adults away from their chicks.  Pets are not
allowed on the refuge.

We were there at straight up noon, which is the worst time to
 photograph flowers.  I could not get a picture of the sand
verbena, which is so prevalent where the snowy plovers like
 to make their nests.

The end of the beach trail

A photo of me taking a photo of the Monterey Bay

Next time, we visit the refuge, we will go earlier in the morning, and

we will bring our fishing poles!

New Melones and a Tale of Synchronicity

   To those who know me, it is no secret that I am navigationally challenged. Still, when I took a wrong turn to go to Moaning Caverns, in Vallecito, in Calaveras County, I was surprised to see that we ended up in Tuolomne County.
   "Tuolomne County?!" I asked as I read the road sign.  My grandson, Gio, was supposed to help guide me, but instead fell asleep in the back seat when the sun hit his face.  I had been counting on him to read aloud the Mapquest directions.
  I was familiar enough with the area to know this road would not take me towards the Caverns.
  Then, we came up on a large body of water.  "This must be New Melones!" I told Gio.
   We made a u-turn, and drove into the park.  I had been reading how New Melones Reservoir had failed to get the rainfall that other reservoirs had received, and I wanted to take this opportunity to get some photos.

   In the photos, you can see how low the water is.  At 613,522 acre feet it is at 25 per cent storage capacity. New Melones has the capacity to hold 2,420,000 acre feet.
   This reservoir is the backup storage for Stockton East Water District, which serves farms in the eastern part of the county (including mine) and for Cal Water, which serves part of Stockton.  I'd already read in SEWD's Ag Water Report, which came with my water bill in March, that "other interests have rights to the first 600,000 acre-feet of water not including environmental interests."
  So ... this is scary low.  New Melones, is by far, much larger than our other local reservoirs, New Hogan and Camanche.  Who said the drought was over?
   On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced that Stockton East and Central San Joaquin water districts will not receive water from New Melones Reservoir this year.  Most of the rainfall that the state received was to the north, and the reservoir is far from capacity. http://www.recordnet.com/news/20160401/no-new-melones-water-for-stockton

  Metaphysics and synchronicity where in play here, for me to be at Melones on Thursday.

As we walked down the boat ramp to take these photos, a sizable quartz crystal materialized next to the road.  I mean, this just stood out in the middle of roadside dirt and weeds!
   I picked it up and took it with me.
   When we got to Moaning Caverns and sat down at a table to have our picnic lunch, it hit me.
   "I was meant to go to New Melones!"  I told Gio.  The whole trip was not about going to Moaning Caverns.  Receiving admission tickets for two to Moaning Caverns, as a gift for donating blood to the Delta Blood Bank was just a metaphysical means to get me to New Melones, where I could see with my own eyes, how dire our water situation is.  It was already planned out in the stars.  That, my friends, is synchronicity.
   At home, I meditated with the crystal.  I turned off the lights and held it up to my third eye.  I felt a strong, unseen presence when I did this.  What came to me, was a knowing--a small voice telling me, "Write and the words will come."
   I haven't been writing or updating my blogs, and it is time to do so.  I have been asked by
Mt. Shasta area residents to make our area aware of the water grab that is going on in their area by Crystal Geyser.  And there is plenty going on with the Delta Tunnels.  Monterey County also has plenty to write about with their failed desal plants.  There are plenty of water issues to cover on the West Coast.