Lake Opens on Wed, Feb 5th
Another year, another openener, another season of great photograohy.
But first a quick shout out to those who lost their homes and livelihoods in LA during the recent Wild Fire events. My condolences go out to all. I’m all too familiar with the consequences of strong Santa Ana winds combined with fire.
In 2007 the Witch Creek fire tore through the San Pasqual Valley burning everything in its path. Luckily parts of the fire stalled at the 15 Freeway because of the buffer that is Lake Hodges. Had the fire not stalled for a day, my house along with the whole of Del Dios would likely be gone. With the Lake acting as an additional Fire break my wife and I had the time to prepare for the oncoming firestorm. I had time to remove irrigation line from our garden to put on the roof where it could slowly drip water into our gutters insuring no embers could take.
Also, the fire fighters had time to regroup to help save our community. Even so, 3 of my direct neighbors lost their homes, including my in-laws.
A large pine tree on our property burned causing the burning pine cones to fall to the ground. Some of these landed in our plastic trash cans, which then started to burn and melt. The burning plastic seeped under our garage door and started burning our garage from the inside! A fire fighter put a chainsaw through the door in order to extinguish the flames. We lost most of our equipment hanging from the garage ceiling but the garage was saved and our house did not catch fire.
The following photo is of my garage after the firefighters extinguished the flames.
So why have I brought this up?….I’ve had a busy winter working with a group of volunteers who are lobbying the Department of Safety of Dams, DSOD, in order to raise the Lake Hodges water level.
Citing Safety concerns, the current water level mandated by the DSOD is 35’ below the spillway at 280’ from sea level, (actual depth 80’), due to the Dam’s poor condition, a legitimate cause for concern. However Lake Hodges rests on solid granite in a region with one of the lowest seismic risks in California. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the probability of a total dam failure is less than 0.1% over the next decade. In contrast, with all the additional dry brush, the likelihood of a major wildfire in this drought-stricken region, driven by Santa Ana winds, exceeds 50% over the same period—a risk that is 500 times greater than that of a dam failure. Even in the rare event of a dam breach, the worst-case scenario would result in damage to approximately 500 homes. In contrast, a wildfire could threaten 10,000 homes, cause billions of dollars in destruction, and potentially result in significant loss of life.
So if Safety is DSODs primary concern they need to re-evaluate their findings, taking into account the downstream AND Upstream safety risks and amend the water level restriction.
And there are other reasons for raising the water level. At the current level the $200M pump station at the south west end of the Lake is inoperable. Bringing the mandated level from 280’ to 293’ feet would allow the pump station to operate again adding a valuable green source of energy production and storage.
And the millions of gallons of precious fresh water that instead of being stored for the inevitable drought years has simply been released into the ocean.
Finally, more water means more birds…. If you’d like to help, please follow this link. You’ll be able to download a detailed form letter along with the list of individuals to whom it should be sent. Please do your part. It could be your community next….
But it’s not all doom and gloom. We finally received some rain at the end of the month. With the current water level there is unobstructed shore access which lends itself to great, low to the water photo opps specifically from shore. The Grebes don’t mind the rain.
And the current water level and vegetation has meant a pair of White-tailed Kites have taken to the west side. I’m hoping that they nest so that we’ll maybe have a set of juveniles to watch as they learn the ropes.
A just fledged immature White-tailed Kite receiving some food from a parent.
The Kites aren’t the only raptors that have been hanging around the low water line. This female Kestrel has become quite the regular. And sometimes overcast conditions can lead to even better definition and color.
And another regular – a female Northern Harrier on the hunt. I always like to keep one eye on the brush surrounding the Lake, even when shooting Grebes because there’s usually a good chance that a Harrier will make a pass at some point in the morning.
One of the wintering species of duck we sometimes see is the Cinnamon Teal. We don’t see too many so it’s always a treat to get a nice shot.
And the Tree Swallows are back. These are always a joy to photograph when perched. If you’d like an exercise in futility, try and catch one in flight, LOL! It is doable, but you better have some patience….
And a reminder of my New Website for purchasing my ART.
One of my favorite aspects of the site is the way in which a potential print can be hung on a mockup of the room in which it’s intended. The room can be changed, the wall color can be changed, and even a photo loaded of the ACTUAL room. Shop with confidence that the print will indeed compliment the room and décor. https://www.lakehodgesphototours.art/shop-art
As always we continue picking up old fishing line while out taking photographs. Multitasking at its finest. I encourage everyone to keep a small bag handy for trash or line or … whatever.
Please contact me directly by email if interested in heading out on the Lake or walking the area for any photography or videography. The Lake has only a limited number of days each week / season open for boating. Walking and hiking is accessible any day, 365 days a year. Feel free to share on your preferred Social Media, and subscribe at the foot of this page.
Until next month
