# Big Sur



## Geezer (Oct 14, 2003)

Looks


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## El Flaco (Nov 5, 2003)

Yep- Went up 4K yesterday- Not unreasonable to think that it'll be in by Friday, if not earlier.


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## UserName (Sep 7, 2007)

Bet the melt slows next few days, rain..., no melt


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## Mut (Dec 2, 2004)

If you want big sur today, go to glenwood play park. It is huge and looks SICK.

I'll try to get some photos up tonight.


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## Ed Hansen (Oct 12, 2003)

I thought just talking about it would jinx it and now it won't show up this year..... nahhhh, not with this years snow pack!


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

COLORADO - CAMEO, NR (CAMC2)

Colorado river forecast center predicting flows just above 20k cfs at cameo this thur and fri, then dropping off. Post pics if you head out there!!!


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## hartle (May 8, 2006)

step off shes all mine when she gets here


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## stankboat (Mar 30, 2005)

With all the playparks these days, wonder if Big Sur really all that. Back in the day, it the only pile in town. Now, it's one of a 100. A big one, though. 
From the NWS:

THE COLORADO RIVER NEAR CAMEO.
* AT 11:00 AM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 9.2 FEET.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 12.0 FEET.
* BANKFULL STAGE IS 10.0 FEET.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL RISE TO NEAR 11.3 FEET EARLY FRIDAY
MORNING.
* IMPACT...AT 11.5 FEET...EXPECT MODERATE LOWLAND FLOODING. WATER WILL
RISE TO NEAR THE BASE OF THE BRIDGE AT THE CONFLUENCE OF PLATEAU
CREEK.
$$


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## dq (Apr 25, 2005)

*worth the trip*



stankboat said:


> With all the playparks these days, wonder if Big Sur really all that. Back in the day, it the only pile in town. Now, it's one of a 100. A big one, though.
> 
> $$


Don't remember the last time Big Sur was in, but when it goes it is well worth the trip from anywhere. must be going now, CO River is 12,000 just west of Glenwood. I seem to remember Big Sur is in at 10,000.


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## kayakfreakus (Mar 3, 2006)

I thought it was 22,000 and above and if it was going that would be probably the biggest party in the state


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## Canada (Oct 24, 2006)

*Status*

Several of us are waiting to pack the car?


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## dq (Apr 25, 2005)

*mistake*



kayakfreakus said:


> I thought it was 22,000 and above and if it was going that would be probably the biggest party in the state


oops, I was wrong it is more like 20,000 cfs. I guess it has just been too long.


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

latest forecast is that the colorado at cameo spikes over 22,000 tomorrow (thur) with a peak at 9:30am. Over 20,000 through friday, then dropping. Could be another early june peak over 20,000 too.


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## raft3plus (Apr 24, 2004)

*This is the year, this is the time*

.. 20K is what I've always heard as the magic number that makes the Big Sur wave happen at Cameo. We have to take advantage of it this year. How cool would it be to have pictures of yourselves in that biggun wave? Daaaang! See you there Thurs or Fri..


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## liam dunn (May 12, 2005)

so i've been thinking about this wave for so long now, and the time it should run i have my high school graduation. any chance of another peak in a week or so?


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## basil (Nov 20, 2005)

Yea, I'm sure the surfing at Big Sur isn't the greatest, but we don't go to Big Sur for the surf. You go for the event. It only happens once every 10 years or so.


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## DanOrion (Jun 8, 2004)

liam dunn said:


> so i've been thinking about this wave for so long now, and the time it should run i have my high school graduation. any chance of another peak in a week or so?


I'd expect a second peak. There's a ton of snow that still needs to melt and run off. A little historical data from the gage:









Starting with 1990:
1993: >20k cfs for 10 days between May 22 and June 3
1995: >20k cfs for 26 days between June 14 and July 16
1996: >20k cfs for 3 days between May 19 and May 21
1997: >20k cfs for 24 days between May 23 and June 24
2003: >20k cfs for 1 day: June 2
Max flow during this period: June 18, 1995 at 29,100 cfs (anyone got a hardon yet?)


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## luke c (Apr 25, 2005)

Its coming I might have to go at 5 AM if any one from GJ entrusted.


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## WarriorOne (Jul 7, 2007)

*Big Sur just beginning*

I was on a wave stretching about 1/2 the river from about 10:30-1pm even though the gates were still closed. The Cameo gauge said 20,100 at 8am. There is a wave train but it was changing throughout this time. As of 1pm the gates are still closed and there is one wave breaking enough for some surf, but hard to do more than flat spins. Needs more and those gates have to open for the real deal.


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## DanOrion (Jun 8, 2004)

Summary of Flows >24k cfs at Cameo:


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## basil (Nov 20, 2005)

With more recent dams and with more demand for water, we won't have so many high water days as in the past, I think.


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## DanOrion (Jun 8, 2004)

basil said:


> With more recent dams and with more demand for water, we won't have so many high water days as in the past, I think.


I was thinking about that. I mean 20k cfs is a lot of water, I mean A LOT OF WATER. 20k cfs is about 40k acre-feet per day. I wonder whether human influences really impact peaks on high water years. Clearly they impact the shoulder seasons and low flows (sometimes for the better, from a flow perspective).

Not trying to start an argument, just trying to understand what the sensitivities are in the natural system. :mrgreen:

Water Supply Storage (excluding flood):
Dillon: 254k af
Cheeseman: 79k af
Green Mountain: 154k af

If Dillon were empty, it would take only 6.5 days to fill with 20k cfs. And Dillon isn't empty, in fact most reservoirs are near full.

What's changed since the 80's? Less precip (we have been in a prolonged dought), or are there major water supply projects that have gone online in the past 30 years? Can anyone list them, I'm just curious?

Growth in mountain areas impacts flows, but more on the side of base flow than peaks. Say there's 25k people in Summit, 50k in Eagle, call it 500k people in the Colorado River drainage above Big Sur. (maybe an over estimate) At 80 gallons per day per person, that's 122 af/day or about 62 cfs of use and maybe 6.2 cfs of consumptive use (impact to the river). That's like boating on the morning dew. Not much irrigation going on right now, so we'll leave that out.

I guess what I'm getting at is that Big Sur runs when mother nature wants it to, development and dams be damned. BIG SNOW YEAR runoff seems to be many orders of magnitude bigger than human impacts on the river.


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## basil (Nov 20, 2005)

Good point. Good numbers. 

I think Wolford Mountain is new, but it's not that big. Not sure about Williams Fork. 

But, if you only reduce flow by 1k cfs, that can have a big impact on Big Sur. 

I think there is also the Grand Junction canal outtake above big sur--that takes 1k cfs. Not sure how long that has been happening.


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