Low Yuba County Water Levels Have Cal Fire Preparing For Worst In California Drought
YUBA COUNTY (CBS13) — Dangerously low water levels in Yuba County have firefighters worried water sources they rely on during fire season could be unavailable.
Cal Fire has been closely monitoring local lakes, rivers and reservoirs and say the fourth year of the drought could make a bad fire season even worse.
The lake that feeds into the Yuba River is 16 feet lower than it was last year, meaning fire crews will likely have to go further to get the water they need.
"It's kind of unnerving, because we're going to be seeing this more and more," said Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff. "The water is too low. They drop in a pump to get water out of it and they're just going to be pulling mud and muck. Normally this time of year, they'd have plenty of water to dive into and to refill their tanks."
With help from the state's drought task force, Cal Fire is monitoring water levels across the region. Levels are so low in parts of Yuba County, it's forcing crews to prepared for a Plan B two months ahead of the traditional fire season.
"If we can't get to the water easily we have to go out further to get it, we'll have to bring in more resources to pick up for that lag time," Tolmachoff said. "If we have multiple large fires going on across the state, it's going to draw us down tremendously."
While Collins Lake is the next closest water source to the Yuba River, firefighters like Justin Hollingshead say they're prepared to rely on their groundwork skills to get the upper hand.
"Knowing a lot of residents have ponds and a lot of them have private storage tanks and being aware of where those are, knowing your options for getting water if you have fires in the area," he said.
But with a 50 percent increase in the number of wildfires so far this year and conditions getting hotter and drier, Cal Fire says it will continue to train and prepare to combat any challenges Mother Nature may bring.
"Water is the No. 1 tool for firefighting for us, so we have to rely on it somehow. But we will find it as best we can and we're going to utilize it as best we can," Tolmachoff said.
Crews will be training this weekend to learn how to better use their portable tanks and water shuttling system during the drought.
Cal Fire is in the process of hiring 3,000 seasonal firefighters during the fire season.
