[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Items for 5/11/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

May 11, 2007

 

1.  Top Items

 

Low water: Who's hurt; CUTTING FLOW NOW WILL HELP FISH IN THE FALL, BUT RECREATION COULD SUFFER - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

 

Russian River flow being cut - San Francisco Chronicle

 

 

Low water: Who's hurt; CUTTING FLOW NOW WILL HELP FISH IN THE FALL, BUT RECREATION COULD SUFFER

Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 5/11/07

By Bleys Rose, staff writer

 

Low water levels on the Russian River this summer will be good for endangered fish and thirsty water users but could be bad news for recreation and tourism businesses.

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Owners of canoe rentals and riverside resorts said Thursday they fear low river levels will drive away customers.

"We depend on the tourism dollars," said Steve Jackson, owner of Guerneville's King's Sport and Tackle Shop and a member of a local recreation advisory board. "People renting kayaks and canoes will have to drag them from Guerneville to Monte Rio."

But officials in Sonoma and Mendocino counties hailed the state's decision, released late Wednesday, to slash flows so that water customers would have enough this summer and endangered salmon would have a healthy river for spawning in the fall.

"Without this action, we wouldn't have any water in the river for fish, agriculture or recreation," said county Supervisor Paul Kelley, who represents northern Sonoma County.

Sonoma County Water Agency officials said they began curtailing river flows out of Lake Mendocino near Ukiah at 8 a.m. Thursday after the decision by the state Water Resources Control Board.

The state is permitting a cut in the flow along the river upstream from Healdsburg from 185 cubic feet per second to 75 and the flow as measured downstream of Healdsburg from 125 cubic feet per second to 85.

The board staff said 2007 will be a dry year, bringing conditions that could threaten endangered fish species, reduce the water supply in Mendocino County and the Alexander Valley and harm recreation at Lake Mendocino and in the Russian River.

Without a flow cut now, Water Agency engineers estimate Lake Mendocino levels would drop below 10,000 acre-feet, which would be the lowest since the lake opened in 1959.

The state board will hold a public hearing June 5 in Sacramento on the effects of reduced flows. Information about the hearing will be posted at www.waterrights.ca.gov/notices.

Emergency rules sought

Water Agency officials said they would take another step toward tighter control of river flows on Tuesday, when they will ask Sonoma County supervisors to urge state water regulators to change the standards for imposing emergency measures. That would allow the Water Agency to seek emergency flow reductions earlier in the year.

"Our discussion will relate to the trigger points for declaring a dry year," said Kelley, who also serves on the state's regional water advisory committee. "The criteria were drawn up in the early 1980s, and conditions are different today."

Since then, global warming has been blamed for increasing the frequency and severity of droughts; the federal government has cast a protective net over regional species of salmon and trout, involving rules that effectively govern river flows; and regulators have curbed amounts of water allowed out of the Potter Valley project that feeds Lake Mendocino.

Low river flows this summer mimic cuts made in 2004 and 2002, when similar weather conditions drew urban water users, environmentalists, river advocates and slow-growth activists into debates over water as a commodity and resource.

Laura Wilson, whose family owns Johnson's Beach and Resort in Guerneville, said she remembers those years because tourism businesses were on edge. Reports of low flows discouraged patrons of restaurants and bars, inns and events from visiting, she said.

"We are very fortunate at Johnson's Beach because we have a summer dam, but mostly everybody else here is worried about what it means for summer business," she said.

However, the flow reduction should improve Mendocino County's tourism outlook by keeping more water in Lake Mendocino, said Ukiah City Manager Candace Horsley.

Prior dry years not so bad

Sonoma County officials acknowledge reduced river flows may have some impact, but they say the experiences in 2004 and 2002 were not as bad as feared.

"There were similar conditions in other years and there was sufficient water for recreation then," Kelley said.

There also was enough water in the river for farmers to irrigate during those years, said Mendocino County farmer Tom Thomas. He said the agencies have not released enough information about the current situation to allow him to determine how bad it could get this year.

Water Agency officials said they still are asking customers to make voluntary cuts of 10 percent to 15 percent. They have asked residents to curb unnecessary water use, such as excessive lawn watering, car washing and nonessential water use.

Voluntary measures, along with reduced summer flows, should help avoid mandatory measures, they said.

The Water Agency provides water to 600,000 customers in northern Marin County, along with most of Sonoma County except residents of Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Sebastopol, owners of private wells and customers of private water systems.

Caution in Mendocino

Mendocino County officials welcomed the flow reduction, but said county residents still must conserve or face severe water shortages by fall.

"We have to push the conservation of water," said Barbara Spazek, executive director of the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District. The district holds Mendocino County's right to 8,000 acre-feet of water stored in Lake Mendocino.

Its customers include Ukiah, several smaller water districts and farmers in the Ukiah Valley.

In Ukiah, there's been little sign that people are serious about conserving water. Horsley said the city has urged residents to voluntarily conserve and has met with its larger water users, including schools.

Later this month, it will send customers detailed information about the need to conserve and at least 100 tips on how to accomplish that, she said.

The city also is setting up a hot line for residents to report apparent water wasting, accidental or otherwise. If that doesn't save enough water, the city may consider mandatory conservation, Horsley said. #

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/NEWS/705110344/1033/NEWS01

 

 

Russian River flow being cut

San Francisco Chronicle – 5/11/07

By Glen Martin, staff writer

 

State water officials, responding to dry weather in the North Bay, announced Thursday that they are cutting flows into the Russian River, the primary water source for most cities and towns in Sonoma County.

 

The move is designed to conserve water in the river's main reservoir, Lake Mendocino, to ensure adequate water supplies for municipalities this summer and to protect endangered fish when they swim up the river later in the year, said William Rukeyser, spokesman for the state Water Resources Control Board.

 

The state is making the cuts at the request of the Sonoma County Water Agency, which supplies drinking water to cities and smaller water districts that serve residents and businesses.

 

Last week, the Sonoma water agency asked contracting water districts to cut their deliveries to customers by 15 percent, said Tim Anderson, an agency spokesman.

 

"We're watching to see how that progresses, and we'll evaluate the situation in June," said Anderson. "Hopefully, no other actions will be required."

 

The cuts should ensure that there is enough water in the reservoir for releases in the late summer and fall, when low water levels in the river can threaten fish.

 

Flows from the reservoir into the upper Russian River -- from its East Fork to the main stem's confluence with Dry Creek -- are being reduced from 185 cubic feet per second to 85 cubic feet per second. Flows below the Dry Creek confluence will be reduced from 125 cubic feet per second to 85 cubic feet per second.

 

"This action is consistent with a dry weather year," said Rukeyser. He said the move was backed by the state Department of Fish and Game, the National Marine Fisheries Service and several environmental groups, all of which are concerned about the status of the river's beleaguered salmon and steelhead.

 

Water officials said lower flows will have a minimal impact on summer recreational activities along the river.

 

The North Bay is particularly vulnerable to dry winters, because the comparatively small Russian River is the main water source for the area.

 

San Francisco, by contrast, has rights to large volumes of Sierra water from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir on the Tuolumne River; the East Bay and South Bay sources include the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Hetch Hetchy and local reservoirs.  #

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/BAG3TPP61Q1.DTL

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