Three Lake Sonoma boat-in campgrounds to close after holiday weekend

Three of 13 boat-in campgrounds ?at Lake Sonoma will be closed now ?that the Fourth of July weekend ?has passed because the reservoir’s ?diminishing water level is beginning ?to make the beach approach unsafe, ?according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The closure, set for Tuesday, means a total of 30 campsites at Skunk, Thumb and Old Sawmill campgrounds will be off-limits, Army Corps representatives said.

There are 202 campsites at Lake Sonoma, including 106 boat-in and 96 drive-in sites.

The campgrounds to be closed are in the most remote reaches of the many-armed lake and are commonly used by kayakers and canoeists who want to travel outside the wake zone, said retired park ranger Linda Clapp, a volunteer and board member for Friends of Lake Sonoma.

Lake Sonoma’s water level has ?dropped three feet in the past month, making it especially difficult for maintenance contractors to get to the three campgrounds slated for closure, Clapp said.

But the water level is better than it was last year, with the reservoir currently at 82 percent of capacity.

“We have hope that it won’t get as low as last year,” Clapp said. “We still have over 200 (acre) feet of water in front of the dam, so there’s still a lot of water up there.”

The closed campsites will remain shut until winter rains resume, the Army Corps said.

Both boat launches at Lake Mendocino near Ukiah remained open through the July 4 holiday, though that lake is steadily dropping as well, Army Corps spokesman Nicholas Simeone said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary ?Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan?@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.