water storage – Page 3 – Enviro Updates

SuzanneMay 10, 2015Waterdrought, Lake Pillsbury, Russian River, salmon, vineyards, water conservation, water storageLeave a comment

Water-supply worries over remote Lake Pillsbury

Guy Kovner, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Water supplies for Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties this summer could hinge partly on the dwindling storage in a remote, drought-starved reservoir on the Eel River that serves as a cornerstone to the region’s water system.
Water managers, fisheries biologists, environmentalists and PG&E have their eyes on Lake Pillsbury, a diminishing Lake County reservoir where storage has dropped 30 percent in the past three months, leaving it at less than 55 percent of capacity. Barring a change in water policy, the situation could lead to a string of empty reservoirs by year’s end, officials said Friday.
“We get to a place where we’re threatened with dry lakes,” said Janet Pauli, a Mendocino County grape grower who has long served on a local irrigation district that depends upon the reservoir’s supply.
Lake Pillsbury’s decline most immediately affects about 300 ranchers in Potter Valley, but its repercussions could reach Lake Mendocino near Ukiah, and ripple down the Russian River to eventually touch the 660,000 customers in Sonoma and Marin counties whose water is drawn from the river by the Sonoma County Water Agency.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Grant Davis, the agency’s general manager.
It underscores the need, he said, for communities that depend on Russian River water to boost conservation efforts and develop off-river alternatives, such as recycled wastewater.
Read more via: Shrinking Lake County reservoir prompts North Bay supply | The Press Democrat

SuzanneApril 25, 2015Sustainable Living, Waterdrought, Russian River, salmon, Sonoma County Water Agency, water conservation, water regulation, water storageLeave a comment

New petition filed with state to conserve Lake Mendocino water

Glenda Anderson, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The Sonoma County Water Agency is again seeking reductions in mandated Russian River water flows to try to conserve declining supplies in Lake Mendocino and better manage the precious resource during the persistent drought.
The agency on Tuesday filed a temporary change petition with the state Water Resources Control Board that would reduce the minimum flow between Lake Mendocino and Dry Creek, near Healdsburg, from 185 cubic feet per second to 75 cfs, agency officials said Wednesday. It also would reduce mandated flows between Dry Creek and the ocean from 125 cfs to 85 cfs. The change would go into effect May 1 and last 180 days.
Mendocino County water officials welcomed the request, which is expected to preserve about 6,500 acre-feet of water in Lake Mendocino, or about one-tenth of its current water supply. An acre-foot is roughly enough to fill a football field with one foot of water or supply one household with 893 gallons of water a day for a year.
The reservoir provides water to residents and farmers between the Redwood Valley and the Alexander Valley in Sonoma County.
Read more via New petition filed to conserve Lake Mendocino water | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneMarch 31, 2015Sustainable Living, Waterdrought, groundwater, water conservation, water storage, water supplyLeave a comment

Despite flush reservoirs, Sonoma County water officials stress need for conservation

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
As California confronts its fourth year of drought and the window for any significant spring rainfall closes, the North Coast has more water in storage than a year ago and is in better position than much of the state to meet its supply needs during the traditionally warm, dry months ahead.
Having endured a near-rainless January and a fourth consecutive winter with below-normal rainfall, local residents can thank several drenching days in December and February for bringing season-to-date rainfall to nearly 24 inches — the most in four years and just 8 inches shy of average for this date.
The total was enough to officially downgrade the drought in most of Sonoma County and all of Mendocino County from “extreme” to “severe,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor federal index and map program. With the Sierra Nevada snowpack at a record low, two-thirds of the state remains in a state of “extreme” or “exceptional” drought.
That’s not to say, however, that the crisis is over on the North Coast, experts said. The strain on groundwater — the other major local source aside from reservoirs — has managers especially concerned. Pumping, by farmers especially, has outpaced groundwater replenishment from rainfall across much of the state. Sonoma County’s aquifers, while not as heavily tapped as those in the Central Valley, for example, are still under significant pressure. Conservation will continue to be key, water managers said.
“We’re not out of this thing by any stretch of the imagination, that’s for sure,” said Jay Jasperse, chief engineer and director of groundwater management for the Sonoma County Water Agency, wholesale supplier to more than 600,000 people in Sonoma and Marin counties.
Read more via Despite flush reservoirs, Sonoma County water officials stress | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneMarch 23, 2015Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable Living, Water, Wildlifedrought, endangered species, salmon, Sonoma County Water Agency, water conservation, water regulation, water storage, weatherLeave a comment

Lake Mendocino shrinking again

Glenda Anderson, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
On the surface, Lake Mendocino appears to have plenty of water, especially when compared with the near-record low levels that turned most of the lake into a mudflat last year. But the lake’s water level already has begun a steady decline that has farmers and water officials concerned it could again shrink to near empty by the end of this fourth year of drought.
“Everybody’s watching it,” Mendocino County Farm Bureau Executive Director Devon Jones said.
Unless significant rain falls this spring, state regulators are likely to repeat last year’s unprecedented curtailment of hundreds of water rights held by farmers and others along the Russian River between Lake Mendocino and Healdsburg.
The state already has curtailed water rights to some Sacramento River tributaries and notified Russian River water users they could be next. State officials also have extended mandated water restrictions for all domestic uses in California.
“I expect they’ll be seeking curtailments again” on the upper Russian River, said Alfred White, a viticulturist and member of the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, which holds Mendocino County’s right to 8,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mendocino.
Lake Mendocino appeared headed for normal water levels following early winter storms, but then the rain tapered off, followed by the end of a regulatory effort to conserve that water.
The water level began dropping in mid-February, just after the expiration of a state-issued variance that temporarily reduced the minimum in-stream flows in the Russian River between Lake Mendocino and Healdsburg. The flows, aimed largely at preserving fish, are managed by the Sonoma County Water Agency, except when there’s a risk of flooding.
Read more via Lake Mendocino shrinking again | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneMarch 23, 2015Sustainable Living, Wateraquifers, groundwater, water conservation, water regulation, water rights, water storageLeave a comment

Sonoma County gets set to study groundwater regulations

Angela Hart, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

When Gov. Jerry Brown in September signed a package of three bills designed to curb overpumping of water from underground aquifers, the historic legislation sent fear and panic throughout Sonoma County. Residents who depend on underground wells as their primary source of water contacted county officials to ask how the laws would affect them, and farmers whose operations require a steady supply of water lobbied hard to be included in conversations about restrictions going forward.
County water officials and supervisors heard concerns about mandatory groundwater monitoring and rationing, and fielded questions about fines and penalties associated with pumping.
Sonoma County this week unveiled its first formal response to a wave of queries over the past six months about how California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which establishes the first rules for pumping groundwater in the Golden State, would affect property owners and agriculture.
“Monitoring and conserving groundwater is no longer going to be voluntary,” said Jay Jasperse, chief engineer and director of groundwater management for the Sonoma County Water Agency. “Some people were saying they’re mad, that it infringes on private property rights and water rights, but on the other hand, we’ve also heard from people who are saying it’s about time to regulate groundwater.”
Between now and June 2017, Sonoma County must form a local agency to develop and oversee plans for achieving sustainable groundwater levels in each of the county’s 14 underground basins.
Read more via Sonoma County gets set to study groundwater regulations | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneMarch 14, 2015Agriculture/Food System, Climate Change & Energy, Sustainable Living, Waterdrought, water conservation, water regulation, water storage, water supplyLeave a comment

California has about one year of water left. Will you ration now?

Jay Famiglietti, OP-ED: LOS ANGELES TIMES

Several steps need to be taken right now. First, immediate mandatory water rationing should be authorized across all of the state’s water sectors, from domestic and municipal through agricultural and industrial.

Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this winter, it might be easy to overlook how devastating California’s winter was as well.
As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California since record-keeping began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows. We’re not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we’re losing the creek too.
Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir.
Statewide, we’ve been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011. Roughly two-thirds of these losses are attributable to groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley. Farmers have little choice but to pump more groundwater during droughts, especially when their surface water allocations have been slashed 80% to 100%. But these pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable. Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.
As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002, when satellite-based monitoring began, although groundwater depletion has been going on since the early 20th century.
Read more via California has about one year of water left. Will you ration now? – LA Times.

SuzanneFebruary 13, 2015Waterflood protection, Lake Mendocino, Russian River, water storageLeave a comment

Feds OK extra water storage at rising Lake Mendocino

Guy Kovner, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Russian River water managers and consumers they serve in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties got a break Wednesday from the prospect of watching precious water flow to the ocean from the rapidly filling Lake Mendocino reservoir near Ukiah.
Raised to more than 97 percent of storage capacity by last weekend’s deluge, the reservoir was on the verge of crossing a threshold that would require the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Lake Mendocino’s Coyote Dam, to begin releasing water in an effort to preserve the reservoir’s ability to prevent flooding in the event of another major storm.
The last time that happened was in December 2012, when a multi-day downpour brought the reservoir to the 94,000-acre-foot level, cutting deeply into the flood protection pool that tops out at 116,500 acre-feet.
Unfortunately, there were no major storms for the next five months, deepening a statewide drought now entering its fourth year.
read more via Feds OK extra storage at rising Lake Mendocino | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneDecember 16, 2014Waterdrought, rain, water storage, weatherLeave a comment

Is California's drought over?

Guy Kovner & Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Could it be 2012 all over again? That’s the year Santa Rosa was drenched by nearly 10 inches of rain in December before Mother Nature abruptly turned off the tap, continuing the three-year drought that still hasn’t ended, despite another soggy December.
With rain falling on 13 of the month’s first 15 days and now totaling 10.64 inches, folks who may be tiring of cloudbursts, gray skies, umbrellas and last week’s atmospheric river could well be wondering if the drought is done.
Not until the Sierra is blanketed in snow and the state’s major reservoirs are full, water managers said Monday, noting that neither of those drought-busting conditions is close to reality.
“We’re having a great, wet December. It’s fantastic,” said Brad Sherwood, spokesman for the Sonoma County Water Agency, which delivers Russian River water to 600,000 customers in Sonoma and Marin counties.
The latest storm dropped 1.3 inches of rain on Santa Rosa during the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday, and more rain is expected to hit the area today and Wednesday, potentially bringing an additional 2 inches, the National Weather Service forecast.
But California, with 80 percent of the state under extreme or exceptional drought last week, needs sustained precipitation through the winter and spring to make up for a 36-month shortfall.
Read more via Is California’s drought over? (w/video) | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneNovember 7, 2014Land Use, Sustainable Living, Wateraquifers, groundwater, water conservation, water storage, water supplyLeave a comment

Managing groundwater in the Santa Rosa Plain

Sonoma County Water Agency, SONOMA COUNTY GAZETTE
On October 7th the Sonoma County Water Agency Board of Directors adopted a Groundwater Management Plan (Plan) for the Santa Rosa Plain (Plain). The Plan sets a framework to locally and voluntarily manage groundwater resources.
“This is a well thought out plan that was developed by a diverse group of stakeholders,” said Efren Carrillo, Water Agency Director. “The voluntary measures of the plan promote groundwater management to support all beneficial uses in an environmentally sound, economical, and equitable manner.”
The Plan was developed by the Basin Advisory Panel (Panel), a balanced stakeholder group. A comprehensive study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey that found that the Plain is experiencing an average annual loss of stored groundwater, which, if not modified, could lead to issues such as declining or dry wells, reduced water flows in creeks and streams, and a loss of water supply flexibility. The Plan promotes activities and programs that aim to create sustainable groundwater levels in the Plain.
“The drought underscores the need to manage our groundwater sustainably, and right now we’re using more than we can sustain,” emphasized Water Agency Director Shirlee Zane. “We’ve been talking about the need for integrated water management for a long time, and this is a step in the right direction for collecting data and creating successful management practices.”
One of the first actions of the plan is to better characterize groundwater conditions by increasing streamflow measurements and voluntary groundwater level monitoring. This data will be used to prioritize groundwater sustainability projects and programs, such as rural water use efficiency programs and groundwater recharge projects.
“This data driven plan puts Sonoma County ahead of the curve when it comes to creating sustainable groundwater levels which will benefit generations of residents,” added Mike McGuire, Water Agency Director. “Climate change is real and we have to be prepared for longer, dryer times.”
Studies, projects, and programs conducted under the Plan may be implemented by one or more organizations, following input or guidance from the Panel. For example, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District will use information from the Plan to support future prioritization of land acquisitions in the Santa Rosa plain – including actions to conserve groundwater recharge areas while providing multiple additional benefits, such as protecting agricultural and open space lands from development.
Read more via Managing Groundwater in the Santa Rosa Plain.

SuzanneOctober 25, 2014Sustainable Living, Waterdams, Delta, drought, water bond, water storage, water transfersLeave a comment

Pacific Institute report provides insights on California’s Proposition 1: The Water Bond

Press Release, PACIFIC INSTITUTE
With the state facing serious and deepening water challenges, voters on November 4th will be asked whether to approve Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. The ballot measure would raise $7.12 billion in new general obligation bonds along with reallocating an additional $425 million of previously authorized, but unissued, bonds to fund a wide range of water-related actions and infrastructures. When the full costs of the bond are assessed, including interest payments, Proposition 1 will cost over $14 billion and be the fourth largest water bond in California history.
The Pacific Institute, an internationally-renowned independent think tank focused on water issues, has released a report that helps voters untangle the complexities of the water bond measure. The Pacific Institute is taking no formal position for or against Proposition 1.
The report, Insights into Proposition 1: The 2014 California Water Bond, and its executive summary, notes that California’s pressing water troubles require expanded investment, changes in policy and institutions, and in some cases fundamentally new technologies, policies, laws, and behavior. The water bond is only one solution – and perhaps an imperfect one at that – when many are needed.
“California voters are faced with a difficult decision on the water bond,” says Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute. “Our new report looks at the subtleties along with the complexities of the bond measure to help voters make wise decisions at the polls.”
With the goal of informing voters, the report analyzes the bond’s key provisions and their potential impacts. The report explains how funds would be allocated, including how the water storage funds may be divided among competing projects. It also describes how the bond addresses the needs of disadvantaged communities and ecosystems.
via New Report Provides Insights on California’s Proposition 1 – Pacific Institute.

Environmental Center of Sonoma County

Tag: water storage