Lake Cachuma boat launch project complete

 

The Lake Cachuma Boat Launch Ramp Improvement project was accepted as complete May 27, at a final cost of nearly $2.7 million.

The contractor, Associated Pacific Constructors of Morro Bay, submitted the statement of final quantities in the amount of $2,447,225.52. A grant from the state of California  Department of Boating and Waterways provided $2,645,000 of the total project cost of $2,680,022.94.

The project was necessary to replace existing degraded facilities and to improve boat launching at surcharge lake elevations of up to 753 feet.

 The new ramp has five launch lanes and is constructed to allow launching from high levels of 753 feet down to low levels of approximately 730 feet.

 

The ramp is designed to accommodate lower levels if the lake recedes below 730 feet, if additional funding is made available.

The project also includes the installation of new boarding floats and access stairway from the ramp to the upper parking areas. The project was completed on time and under the budgeted contract amount, according to the county.

This project was mandated by the state, which determined that dam height had to be raised by three feet as mitigation for habitat destruction affecting steelhead trout, of which eight once were reported to have been found in the Santa Ynez River.

The State Water Resources Control Board issued permits in 1958 under Decision 886 to divert, store and use flood waters from the Santa Ynez River, reserving the right to determine the amounts, timing and rate of release of water past Bradbury Dam and Lake Cachuma for downstream water rights. The decision was extended in 1973, 1978, 1988 and 1994.

 

In November 1987, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance complained that the dam severely impacted steelhead trout and violated Article X, Section 2 of the California Constitution.

On August 17, 1997, steelhead trout were listed as “endangered” by the National Marine Fisheries Service, under the Endangered Species Act, from the Santa Maria River to Malibu Creek. On May 1, 2002, the range was extended from Southern California to the U.S.-Mexico Border.

Order 89-18 defined a new accounting, monitoring and operating procedure for Lake Cachuma and Bradbury Dam, requiring the Board of Reclamation to release water downstream to replenish the riparian groundwater basins and to protect vested downstream water rights. Water from 89-18 releases is held by a temporary dam at V St in Lompoc to promote groundwater recharges.

 

According to a report prepared for the Santa Ynez River Consensus Committee by the Santa Ynez River Technical Advisory Committee Conjunctive Use Work Group in October, 2000, storage capacity in Lake Cachuma could be increased by installing higher flashboards on the spillway radial gates at Bradbury Dam to allow surcharging of the reservoir. The additional water stored will support the flow-related enhancement measures. A surcharge of three feet would provide conservation storage of about 9,200 acre feet over that available at the 750 foot elevation.

A surcharge memorandum of understanding was created in February, 2009, between Cachuma Conservation Release Board, Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, Santa Ynez Water Conservation District Improvement District No. 1 and the City of Lompoc to address downstream flows.