Transit of the future
School supplies
Donations are needed to fill 500 backpacks.
El Dorado Transit proposal would bring zero-emissions buses to the county. Inside, A8
News, etc., B1
170
C a l i f o r n i a ’ s O l d e s t N e w s pa p e r – E s t. 18 51
th
Volume 170 • Issue 87 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, July 26, 2021
PG&E expands wildfire services Eric Jaramishian Staff writer The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors heard a presentation by PG&E about wildfire and shutoff programs that will be implemented this year. PG&E officials explained the tool they use to determine which areas are at most risk for wildfire. The California Public Utilities Commission map shows that most areas in El Dorado County with PG&E coverage have either elevated risk (tier 2) or have extreme fire threat (tier 3). PG&E services around 75,000 customers in those areas. Customers can go to cpuc.ca.gov/ FireThreatMaps to search their home address. The presentation also detailed on PG&E’s Community Wildfire Safety Program, which includes ways to reduce wildfire potential, improve situational awareness and how to reduce public safety power shutoff events. PG&E officials can monitor wildfire 24/7 with 135 new highdefinition cameras, which people can view online. They also track weather conditions via 300 new weather stations. To reduce the effects of PSPS events, more than 275 additional sectionalizing devices and transmission switches make power grids functional in the event of a shutoff. PSPS events are triggered during dangerous conditions and high winds; inspections and repairs from any damage will occur before power is restored. Low humidity, high wind conditions, dry material n
Mountain Democrat photos by Thomas Frey
Each July El Dorado County Maintenance and Operations crews repair Mosquito Bridge, which has existed since 1867.
Busy bridge crew Mosquito Bridge gets annual fixings
Thomas Frey Staff writer
A
s the clock hits 7 a.m. Tino Arteche, Camren Beckett, Tony Bellofiore, Dennis Davis, Gino Klare, Doug Lequire and Bob Richerson begin the El Dorado County Department of Transportation’s annual maintenance on historical Mosquito Bridge. The bridge has connected Placerville to the Mosquito and Swansboro communities since 1867, when horses crossed over. It was completely redone in 1939 and today the bridge closes for about three weeks every July so crews can repair the wear and tear — top to bottom. To get underneath the bridge, they get into a crate that can be lowered and moved from one end of the bridge to the other. Also known as the “swinging crate,” it has very strong support not only from the cable suspension, but also from the seven who work on it. All the safety measures have backups and those backups also have a backup. When someone is underneath Underneath it all is the bustling South Fork of the American River, where occasionally the crew will see expert kayakers navigating around the
See PG&E, page A2
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
n
See bridge, page A6
Tino Atreche makes sure everything is in place underneath Mosquito Bridge.
Drought impacts
Lake Tahoe likely to drop below rim in three months Claire McArthur Tahoe Daily Tribune After two consecutive dry winters, Tahoe’s lake level is sitting a little over 1.5 feet above its natural rim — a threshold the alpine lake is forecasted to drop below in the next three months. And while the rise and fall of Lake Tahoe’s water level is cyclical in the short-term (with evaporation and downstream flow offsetting spring runoff filling the lake each year) and the long-term (the lake has fallen below its natural rim more than
20 times in the last century since data collection began), experts are concerned by the severity of the current drought and its impacts on water supply, wildfires and wildlife. To start, it’s the third driest year in terms of precipitation from melted snow and rain in 111 years, reported Chad Blanchard, the federal water master responsible for upholding the legal mandates of Tahoe’s water flow. According to the 11 Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) weather stations in the basin, cumulative precipitation currently sits at
23.6 inches — 53% of average and just shy of the 22.6 inch record-low for this time of year. Evaporation — which accounts for the loss of 55% of the 6 feet of reservoir water stored between the lake’s natural rim and the Tahoe City dam — continues to outpace inflow, which was low this spring due to below-average snowpack and ground absorption from dry soil conditions. To a much lesser degree, water is lost from the lake due to releases from the dam n
See lake, page A7
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