Updates

We continue the monthly Cole Creek Advisory Collaborative (CCAC) meetings with Lake County Water Resources, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), California State Parks, Big Valley Rancheria, FlowWest engineers, and community representatives.

Lake County Water Resources is still looking for partners to clear vegetation and sediment downstream of the Clark Drive bridge; progress has been slow and flooding risk remains on our minds as winter approaches. The county also formed a commission to review the Fish and Wildlife Management and Planning Services RFP applications but has not set a timeline for decisions yet.

CDFW shared that the California Conservation Corps may be available for a day in the second week of December to cut back vegetation if scheduling holds, and the department is working on a broader watershed study expected in the coming months with a focus on the constrained stretch we flagged, which should help keep momentum on near-term fixes.

Lake County opened bidding for the comprehensive “Fish and Wildlife Management and Planning Services; Task A, Task B, Task C” contract. Task C is focused entirely on Cole Creek planning and design, with an expected contractor cost range of $200,000–$500,000.

The scope calls for planning, engineering, and hydrological design work to restore 1.55 miles of Cole Creek. Proposals are due October 17, 2025, at 5:00 PM, marking the first concrete procurement step toward long-term restoration.

Lake County Water Resources spent a full week cutting through vegetation and scooping sediment from a short reach of Cole Creek just upstream of Clark Drive Bridge.

The pilot effort exposed how much material needs to be hauled away to reopen the channel. Residents are pushing the county to expand this work to the rest of the clogged creek before the next rainy season.

Large vegetation, trapped debris, and sediment deposits downstream still choke the flow, so flood risks remain unchanged outside the cleared test area.

Supervisor Jessica Pyska (District 5), Supervisor Brad Rasmussen (District 4), and Water Resource Director Pawan Upadhyay walked the flooded parcels to see the damage firsthand.

We walked them through how months of standing water continue to erode driveways and trap equipment, emphasizing that emergency relief needs to expand beyond the limited maintenance already underway.

The county team took detailed notes on infrastructure impacts and community mitigation ideas, promising to fold the field observations into the coming Cole Creek workplan.

California State Water Resources Control Board Board Member Nichole Morgan, along with staff from the Division of Water Quality, Division of Water Rights, Region 5, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, joined Big Valley Rancheria for a firsthand tour of the Cole Creek flooding.

They witnessed inundated fields, stranded driveways, and the damage left behind, documenting everything for the state record.

The California State Water Resources Control Board installed a monitoring gauge inside an unused pasture well to capture how prolonged flooding affects groundwater levels.

Staff had to wade through knee-deep water to reach the well, highlighting that late-winter inundation still covers working fields.

Sam Euston documented widespread inundation across Green Acres, Kelseyville. The unedited drone footage shows water stretching across fields and driveways, illustrating how long the floodwaters linger.

This clip is now our go-to visual when meeting with agencies. It shows exactly why Cole Creek needs immediate intervention.

Lake County Water Resources and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife presented a Clear Lake Hitch emergency update to the Board of Supervisors, beginning near the 1:24:42 mark in the recording.

Community members followed around 2:35:35, urging the county to keep Cole Creek at the top of the priority list.

A delegation from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service walked the flooded portions of Green Acres alongside Lake County Water Resources, Big Valley Rancheria, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to understand how Cole Creek’s stagnation is impacting the Clear Lake Hitch and nearby homes.

We shared community videos and site photos, emphasizing the need for federal participation alongside the county and state agencies.

The first monthly Cole Creek Restoration Project meeting came together after we spoke with interested agencies at the 21st Tule Boat Festival in July.

Lake County Water Resources, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Big Valley Rancheria, community voices, and FlowWest engineers joined the inaugural session and set a standing monthly cadence.

The goal is to surface blockers (in the creek and figuratively), find interagency opportunities, and keep the information flowing for grant applications so everyone can move in step.

We’re coordinating with the community and agency leads in between meetings to keep communications clear and momentum steady.

Ahead of another atmospheric river, we cleared the outlet pipe and set up a three-inch pump so the pasture could start draining before the storm hit.

The pump, sponsored by Aaction Rents in Ukiah, ran steadily until the rain began, giving us a head start that kept the water line closer to last year’s level and prevented fresh damage to driveways and fencing.

Store Manager Jeffrey helped us monitor the setup, proving how much of a difference even a temporary pump can make while we wait on long-term fixes.

Angela De Palma-Dow from Lake County Water Resources and Erica Lundquist, District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, met onsite ahead of the rainy season to understand the chronic blockages along Cole Creek.

We walked the channel downstream of the Clark Drive bridge and the culvert feeding Cole Creek, highlighting how trapped debris and a constricted outflow force water back across neighboring parcels.

Angela and Erica outlined how a joint project combining county, NRCS, Vector Control, and other agency resources could fund sediment removal and outflow repairs if we line up landowner support and applications for the 2024 construction window.

After holding back water from January through mid-May, we brought Jennifer Garcia, Environmental Program Manager at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, to Cole Creek to see the trapped water for herself.

She authorized us to take a tractor into the channel as an emergency flood response so we could dig out the clogged culvert that was trapping the neighborhood’s runoff.

Months of standing water wiped out the grass seed we had planted for summer forage, and by May the pasture was sprouting water plantains and other wetland plants instead.

The moment the blockage was removed, the standing floodwater dropped noticeably over the next few days, giving nearby parcels their first relief of the year.