Whether or Not the Local Creeks will Weather the Weather

[WanderingBlues]

I've not seen rainfall in the San Bernardino Mountains like this weekend since Xmas of 2003. That's when a dozen folks died at St. Sohia due to debris slides and Little Bear Creek out of Arrowhead filled with 6-10' of silt and decomposed granite.

For non-burn areas, how much of an impact does this type of rain have? For the burn areas, I hope the watersheds survive.

[midger]

The locals will fare just fine. This rain is nothing compared to what we've had in past years--the last El Nino brought us over 15 inches of rain in less than a week and the locals survived those and they've also survived the run offs after the Willow Fire, Old Fire, and numerous other fires over the years.

There will be mudslides--Highway 18 (Arctic Circle) to Big Bear has been closed this storm a couple of times. Nothing new as this occurs every year on that stretch--fire or no fire. It's the nature of the topography of the area. Steep slopes, minimal vegetation, loose decomposed granite and soils leads to slope slippage whenever the ground gets supersaturated.

If you go down into the locals in the early spring during runoff you'll see how much water rips through the channels. Also note how high the trees and brush are pushed during these run offs as the piles are very high up on the banks and there are some large trees in the piles. The fish survive these runoffs just fine.

I think the actual danger to the watersheds is man and what they do to the areas, not nature, but that's just my opinion.

[tree catcher]

Always wondered about that. I have been to the local creeks and rivers and been fishing only to look at the canyon wall and wonder what would happen if I was in this exact same spot when the water came through. That and how the heck did that boulder and those logs wind up above me. Yup water can do wonders, I just hope I am not there when it happens

[John Harper]

Native trout in fire areas can be wiped out by debris flows. A strain of natives in the Santa Ana area (forgot the creek name) was wiped out a couple years ago when the creek filled with fire debris.

I used to fish a creek in Ventura County (Hopper Creek) that had an awesome wild fish population years ago. After a fire a few years back, the trout were supposedly wiped out by massive debris flows and silting. Too much silt and there's no pools left with deep, cooler water, or spawning beds. I heard this from a DFG biologist who surveyed the waters.

John

[WanderingBlues]

I think the actual danger to the watersheds is man and what they do to the areas, not nature, but that's just my opinion.

Considering it was probably man, via arson or carelessness, that started the fires.....

[Bernard]

My 2 cents ...
It depends massively which stream or streams you are thinking about. Is there snow melt or will there be? Is there a massive amount of plant life in the region or is the area silt-heavy and dirty? I guess this could also now be "ash heavy". Does a lot of the rain wash down sandy washes or get filtered or rapidly soaked by the earth in one way or another? This question has been, for me, a huge part of the fun and the challenge of the locals. I am sure everyone has heard about how many of the mudslide scares have, for now, been luckily false alarms. Today I played hooky and fished a non-snowmelt stream. The water was strangely warm (I accidentally stepped in and didn't feel cold - that was my thermometer ha ha ha), it was running clear, fish were feeding! It was amazing. A reliable local source cited over 5 inches of rain in the last 5-6 days within that watershed. Here I was on a stream that was perhaps 24 hours off of it's most recent event and having a fine day. That said, and as I often catch myself doing allow me to say something ironic: I have had incredible days on freezing and turbid local streams in bad weather. My best day on one particular local was in January. I haven't duplicated that day yet. Finally, and I am really repeating myself now (But it can be good sometimes to mutter to one's self right?) I find that even the bad times locally are very useful for exploring. Do some recon. Carry a rod with you just in case ....
B

[Sheriff Joe]

"A strain of natives in the Santa Ana area (forgot the creek name)"

Thank you.