About a mile downstream from Guerneville, Sarah Dale’s Russian River dock is marooned on a silty, bone-dry riverbed. She called out to her teenage sons carrying kayaks down the dusty bed to find the water’s edge, and reminded them to check the depth at a favorite jumping spot.
Normally, a branch of the Russian River would be coursing past their dock in their Neeley Road hamlet and teeming with otters, herons, kayakers and swimmers. But for the past two summers, this part of the river has run dry.
In August 2024, an I-beam failed on a seasonal dam downstream in a community called Vacation Beach, and repairs have lagged. So, for the past two summers, instead of slowing into a broad, calm summertime pool along the cabins and homes lining its banks, roughly 2 miles of the river west of Guerneville have been faster and narrower, leaving entire waterside hamlets high and dry…