folsom lake sra low low water level

[cw0909]

the water is super low, looks like you could find,some good finds
looks like you can detect too
City: With Low Lake Levels, Folsom Residents Must Reduce Water Use | KTXL FOX40
http://news.yahoo.com/video/lake-water-level-dropping-several-005036411.html
[h=2]Park Regulations and Legal References[/h]Subject: Mineral Collection, Use of Metal Detectors - Clarification
5) There is no specific law against use of metal detectors. However, they may not be used for mineralogical or historical/archeological collection. They may be used for location of contemporary (i.e. recently lost) coins or personal property. If personal property is found it should be put into lost and found and may be returned to the finder if unclaimed by the original owner after a certain period of time. Again, the land/soil surface may not be disturbed.
Larry M. Fraley Chief Ranger
parkregs

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

the water is super low, looks like you could find,some good finds
looks like you can detect too
City: With Low Lake Levels, Folsom Residents Must Reduce Water Use | KTXL FOX40
http://news.yahoo.com/video/lake-water-level-dropping-several-005036411.html
Park Regulations and Legal References

Subject: Mineral Collection, Use of Metal Detectors - Clarification
5) There is no specific law against use of metal detectors. However, they may not be used for mineralogical or historical/archeological collection. They may be used for location of contemporary (i.e. recently lost) coins or personal property. If personal property is found it should be put into lost and found and may be returned to the finder if unclaimed by the original owner after a certain period of time. Again, the land/soil surface may not be disturbed.
Larry M. Fraley Chief Ranger
parkregs

cw0909, this is not the first time the waters have been down super low there. And each time the waters recede out of the fingers of the lake, then little burgs that used to be miner tent cities, etc.... get revealed. Eg. old roads come into view, old foundations, etc.... And all of those have long since been worked. There's been seateds, barbers, IH's, chinese cash coins, and even some bust coins found. But the most obvious of spots have long-since been stripped of all conductive targets. Not sure if the present low-ness of level has gone down to reveal anything that was previously deeper still. The most colorful of the towns to be covered when Folsom lake was formed, was mormon island. However, it would be under the deepest portions of the lake, up by the actual front walls of the dam itself. Hence I don't think it will ever be revealed, unless the water were completely drained. Any visible ruins of THAT town supposedly visible now, would only be buildings that were on the outskirts of that town, higher up in elevation.

Another problem you'll have if the water's ever got low enough for those lowest of submerged ruins, is sediments. Because man-made reservoirs (dams) have the inherent problem of collecting sediment that washes in from the incoming tributaries. And that settles down to the lowest points of the reservoir, and .... over decades, causes bottom reservoirs to loose depth and capacity. But this didn't seem to be an issue in the upper fingers of the lake, because foundations weren't covered, and targets were easily within reach still.

I like how you cite the laws about metal detectors Yup, we weren't hunting for, nor did we find any "historic" and "archaeological" items. And if found by accident, we left them right there, of course . And naturally, sure, we turned all our modern items in to lost and found as well, according to those rules. DOH! And "disturbing the soil surface"? Well OF COURSE I/we only picked up the items that were ON TOP of the ground, and dare didn't retrieve them if the beep wasn't seen visibly on top of the ground. I mean, ........... seriously now.

 

[cw0909]

hi tom, ya we have the same dig prob here, in state and most county parks, i know everyone followed law
the reports are 58% and dropping, here are more imgs,i went out and walked the melted snowpile in Pk lots
and made 8$ change and bill, and that was just 2 pklots, next warm up ill try the mall pklot

Folsom Lake at 58% Capacity and Dropping - Featured Photo Galleries - The Sacramento Bee

 

[JunkDetector]

I find the regulations ridiculous, but its the law. It would be a great place to detect due to the history of the area and I only live about 20 minutes away so if the regulations weren't there I'd definitely try it out sometime.

As for any metal detectorist that knowingly disregards laws and regulations, they are a disgrace to the hobby. They're dragging down responsible detectorists down with them and threaten the hobby's existence.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

I find the regulations ridiculous, but its the law. It would be a great place to detect due to the history of the area and I only live about 20 minutes away so if the regulations weren't there I'd definitely try it out sometime.

As for any metal detectorist that knowingly disregards laws and regulations, they are a disgrace to the hobby. They're dragging down responsible detectorists down with them and threaten the hobby's existence.

junkdetector, what you're saying is a noble. Just curious: where do you detect then? Because trust me: such rules as you read cited here, are *not* just state-of-CA (or federal or whatever) rules. I suspect that if you looked long enough and hard enough at even city or county rules where you're at, you'd find similar things. Ie.: for cities, invariably, there's going to be something that forbids "altering", "defacement", "taking", "collecting", "harvesting", and so forth. And given enough morphing, sure, could be said to prohibit you from hunting even the most innocuous of city park modern sandboxes.

So I'm assuming you only hunt private land, right?

 

[sidvail]

Speaking of Folsom Lake - check this out. Water levels are so low, an old gold rush town was seen again. And son of a gun - they're saying it is Mormon island. So like Tom say's, it's probably the higher elevation buildings.

Folsom Lake dry spell reveals submerged gold rush town | News - KCRA Home

 

[Clay Slayer]

Reminds me of Texas a couple of years ago...

2011 Texas Drought - a set on Flickr

 

[Tom_in_CA]

sid-vail, thanx for the link. A few tid-bits from it:

"Visitors can still make out the footprint of buildings believed to be a dairy and a winery that once stood in the hills above the town, along with the winding Natomas canal -- a ditch lined by tree stumps."

and

"Much of the town is still under about 90 feet of water, according to some estimates."

Yes, despite how the article may make it sound, these particular ruins/foundations have been exposed before. Maybe they're a bit higher now, but nonetheless, exposed. And as the text says, the larger portion is NOT revealed. The lake would practically have to be drained to reveal the town center area.

And you've got to love this quote:


"It's also against state law to remove items from a state park."

Well gee, SO TOO is it "against the law" to "remove" items from ANY park, of ANY entity (city, county, state, or federal). There's ALWAYS going to be obligatory verbage to prohibit collecting, taking, harvesting, etc... of any speck of public land. You know, so that no numbskull thinks he can help himself to the park benches, or start harvesting sand or rock for his quarry, etc.... Can those type things be made to apply to singular coins, seashells, pulltabs, etc....? SURE! All you have to do is keep asking enough people in city hall, with the right combination of buzzwords, and you can get it to apply. Yup, even to that penny you just "took" from the modern sandbox at your city park. Shame on you.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

But realistically, all joking aside, the "sensitive" (ie.: someone "really cares") area of this particular state park, would be in this zone. I mean, ..... it's akin to a monument, visible hot-spot, news clips like this link, and so forth. So common sense dictates to take heed here.

However, further back up in the canyons (the fingers of this same reservoir, which are also now dry) were some other small burgs. Just little tent city towns, and some foundations etc... A few miles upstream, that are/were not the "Mormon Island" town proper. Those have been detected (not sure if they're still within the "state" park boundries?) in the past, since they get exposed more often. And I think haven't had water over them, for that matter, for many years now? Even a coin purse with a dozen or so gold-rush era coins was found in the vicinity.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Ya that's about as wacky as it gets. I was "informed" by a police officer in a (shall remain unnamed) town, " You can detect all you want but you can't dig". As I gazed out over the beach where people were digging clams, and kids were digging holes along with their dog, truth and justice for all....lol! I guess not!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Ya that's about as wacky as it gets. I was "informed" by a police officer in a (shall remain unnamed) town, " You can detect all you want but you can't dig". As I gazed out over the beach where people were digging clams, and kids were digging holes along with their dog, truth and justice for all....lol! I guess not!

You know why those people were digging clams and didn't seem to have a problem ? Because they didn't ask. I gaurantee you that if I went to that location, and asked high enough up the chain of bureaucracy "can I dig holes?", they would be obliged to tell me "no". Then alas, I would get on clam-digger forums, and let everyone else know that "such & such place is off-limits". And we'd all lament how we're loosing places to dig clams. And we'd start the FCDC organization (Federation of Clam Diggers Clubs) to form a solidarity to fight to regain our rights (like the FMDAC, except for clam diggers).

But alas, unlike md'rs, none of those clam diggers has apparently ever asked. So apparently it's never been an issue. Those silly clam diggers! They've missed 30 yrs. to evolve on this, like we md'rs have. Such a shame

 

[Jason in Enid]

I find the regulations ridiculous, but its the law. It would be a great place to detect due to the history of the area and I only live about 20 minutes away so if the regulations weren't there I'd definitely try it out sometime.

As for any metal detectorist that knowingly disregards laws and regulations, they are a disgrace to the hobby. They're dragging down responsible detectorists down with them and threaten the hobby's existence.

BE careful with talk like that. I was threatened with being banned for telling someone not to violate the law.

 

[sidvail]

Well, I for one am going out there to look around. I just gotta see this spot that may not show up again for a long time. But then again, maybe next year it will be back. Still - anytime I have a chance to look at some history, I'm there. I just watched a video on KCRA showing an old bridge down there that looks normal now (water flowing under it instead of covering it). Come on, that's cool

Since I can't dig - maybe I'll bring my 4 year old niece and her plastic bucket and shovel. Let her do it for me. LOL

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Since I can't dig - maybe I'll bring my 4 year old niece and her plastic bucket and shovel. Let her do it for me. LOL

Wouldn't that be illegal for the 4 yr. old to do ?

 

[sidvail]

More than likely - but who can say no to a 4 year old beauty playing in the sand

 

[Tom_in_CA]

More than likely - but who can say no to a 4 year old beauty playing in the sand

The desk-bound bureaucrat that you go ask permission from, can and might indeed say no So long as you phrase it this way: "Can members of my family go dig and deface the beach?"

Yes I know that silly, BUT THAT'S JUST THE POINT. We md'rs, for way too long, look at such "deface" and "alter" clauses, and "fear they might apply to our activity". So what do we do? We waltz into city, county, and state offices asking if such clauses apply to us. Afterall, you "can't be too safe, right?"

So the answer to your question is: The lawyer/bureaucrat type you ask "can I dig on the beach" (or sandbox, or school, or park, or whatever).

 

[tamrock]

If this is the same Folsom Lake that was close by when I lived in Fair Oaks Cal. I thought it always looked like that this time of year. I'm sure one could turn up something good with a MD along the shoreline. Fishing tackle, money, may even hit some good jewelry. That was a busy place in the two years I lived there in 86 to 87. went to Folsom lake allot on those 104 deg. +/- days. Heck I'll bet I'd find interesting stuff with just my eye. I search low reservoirs out here in Colorado for stone tools and find something almost every time.

 

[JunkDetector]

junkdetector, what you're saying is a noble. Just curious: where do you detect then? Because trust me: such rules as you read cited here, are *not* just state-of-CA (or federal or whatever) rules. I suspect that if you looked long enough and hard enough at even city or county rules where you're at, you'd find similar things. Ie.: for cities, invariably, there's going to be something that forbids "altering", "defacement", "taking", "collecting", "harvesting", and so forth. And given enough morphing, sure, could be said to prohibit you from hunting even the most innocuous of city park modern sandboxes.

So I'm assuming you only hunt private land, right?

I live in a rural area so there aren't too many public places to hunt. Just a few schools and a park or two. None are very old so if I want to find relics it would have to be by getting permission on private property.

In the case of ambiguous and/or arcane laws that may or may not apply to metal detecting I don't see a problem with detecting there. In the case of Folsom Lake they have specifically stated that finds of "historical" significance are off limits so there is no gray area. parkregs

Folsom Lake?s decline exposes Gold Rush history - Folsom/El Dorado News - The Sacramento Bee

With parking at $12 I doubt I would go even if there were no regulations on metal detecting.

For those interested in checking out surrounding areas this survey may be of use. Survey Details - BLM GLO Records

 

[sidvail]

Nice trip out to Folsom lake today. So many people down there looking at the foundations it really surprised me. All road and side streets filled with cars. A lot of metal detectors also. And of course - people digging everywhere. Pulling up old pieces of rusted iron, nails, etc. Every big rock had a pile of rusted items stacked on top of it. They were even pulling rocks out of the walls.

Way too many people. Kinda scary, actually.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Nice trip out to Folsom lake today. So many people down there looking at the foundations it really surprised me. All road and side streets filled with cars. A lot of metal detectors also. And of course - people digging everywhere. Pulling up old pieces of rusted iron, nails, etc. Every big rock had a pile of rusted items stacked on top of it. They were even pulling rocks out of the walls.

Way too many people. Kinda scary, actually.

What ?? You saw people with metal detectors there ?? Really? Was anyone there shooing them away? wow.