Story & Photos
C L L A E K A E R
measuring
BY DAN ISAAC
Cache Creek Dam
WHAT IS A RUMSEY?
I cannot tell you how many times someone has asked this question. Or, how many times I’ve got a funny look when I’ve used it to describe the water level at Clear Lake.
So… to help shed clarify the unique measurement, I thought I would give it an explanation. When I began, I believed it would be an easy task.
Then, I began to do some research and realized that while the question that
is usually asked is “what” is a Rumsey,
the question really should be, “who” was
Rumsey?
Huh? What? I though the lake level of
Clear Lake was measured in Rumsey?
It is, absolutely correct. The lake level
is measured by a gauge known as the
Rumsey gauge. However, this gauge is
not a special instrument as most would
think; it’s a simple vertical gauge that
was developed here in Lake County
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