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It's sugar for sugar and salt for salt...
8 January 2023

...if you go down in the flood it's going to be your fault.

It has rained practically every day for almost two weeks, and more rain is forecast for tonight and beyond, but today should be dry. That means I need to mount up and pedal out the Greenway to see how Santa Rosa Creek is doing. I think it's safe to say it's in spate.

I've seen the water in the creek considerably higher—and I can tell from various lines of debris that it has subsided somewhat today—but it's currently flowing high enough to draw attention from gaggles of pedestrians. One woman asked me "What happens to all this water?" She seemed quite flabbergasted when I pointed out it eventually empties into the Pacific Ocean at Jenner.

With more storms on the way, and more inches of rain forecast, soon we might all be floating out to the ocean.

Addendum: It rained at least two inches in the Santa Rosa Creek watershed overnight, and on Monday morning the creek is running considerably higher than it was when I took these photos on Sunday.

Flashback!

Flat Rock at the confluence of Brush Creek and Santa Rosa Creek in August 2022.

Dry in summer.


Flat Rock at the confluence of Brush Creek and Santa Rosa Creek today.

Flowing fast enough and high enough to knock you over.


Santa Rosa Creek.

Practically dry in summer. Practically Santa Rosa River today.


SRFD has its swift water rescue team on standby along the creek.


Flashback!

Santa Rosa Creek one year ago.

Definitely a drought.


Different view of the same spot today. No way to get down on the creek bed.

Not quite so dry, but not enough to break the multi-year drought.


Waterfall!


Foaming into Santa Rosa Creek.


The waterfall is actually flowing from drainage pipes emerging from under the Greenway trail.


Flashback!

Santa Rosa Creek along the trail and under Willowside Road in January 2021.

Looking calm.


Santa Rosa Creek along the trail and under Willowside Road today.

Can't quite get to the same spot where I took the previous photo.


Lots of debris dumped here by the creek over the last week or two when the water was running a little higher


More debris accumulating in the creek. I saw one log the size of a telephone pole floating downstream.

I also saw a pair of kayakers. With this much water flowing, they could probably follow Santa Rosa Creek to the Laguna de Santa Rosa, then to Mark West Creek, then to the Russian River, and then to the Pacific Ocean at Jenner.


A good day for fish.


Another view of Santa Rosa Creek.


Another view of Santa Rosa Creek.


Lots of downed trees throughout the county and the Bay Area.

Here's one by the rather damp Guardian Elders on Sonoma Avenue.


Along the Greenway, a map of the Santa Rosa Creek watershed.


Summary

Date: 8 January 2023
Time: 12:00 - 2:30
Weather: 55°, overcast, more rain on the way
Route: Greenway
Distance: 24 miles
Bike: Ogre
Riders: Solo


Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I'd like to hear from you.


~ 101 ~



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Bill Stone

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