Reservoir Storage & Operations:

Water supply information provided by Sonoma Water (find more water storage info here).

Weather on the Way

Slides from today's NOAA Breifing:

 GIFT ARTICLE- San Fran Chronicle: Powerful storm to bring flooding rain and strong wind to California this week. Here’s a timeline, 1/29/24

Thanks to the Maven’s Notebook for gifting this article on the incoming atmospheric river (AR.)

APPROVAL of the Temporary Urgency Change Petition (TUCP) on the Russian River

On December 27th, 2023, the State Water Resources Control Board issued the Order approving Sonoma Water’s Temporary Urgency Change Petition (filed 10/12/2023) on water-right Permits 12947A, 12949, 12950, and 16596 (Applications 12919A, 15736, 15737, and 19351) to modify the hydrologic index used to set minimum instream flows in the Upper Russian River, Lower Russian River, and Dry Creek. Under the Order, the water supply conditions in the Russian River are established based on storage thresholds in Lake Mendocino instead of cumulative inflow into Lake Pillsbury. For additional information visit Sonoma Water’s TUCP webpage and TUCP archive.

Eel Russian Project Authority – First Meeting Scheduled for Jan 31st 3 PM

The Eel-Russian Project Authority (ERPA) is a joint powers authority formed by a joint exercise of powers agreement between the County of Sonoma, Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water), and the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission.

ERPA will have the power to negotiate with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) as the utility moves ahead with plans to surrender operations of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project and to decommission the Scott and Cape Horn dams on the Eel River. The new authority will also have the legal capacity to own, construct and operate a new water diversion facility near the Cape Horn Dam.

A new website has been created to host information for the Eel-Russian Project Authority.  The website can be viewed at www.eelrussianauthority.org.   Authority agendas, minutes and presentations will be posted on this website.  Please note that the first Authority meeting is January 31 at 3pm at the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chambers located at 575 Administration Drive, Room 102A, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.  A virtual Zoom option to listen to the meeting will be made available.  Please see the website for more information.

Supply and Demand Assessment (SDA) by the SWRCB in the Russian River

The SDA Unit has continued to work on the models and tools developed for the Russian River Watershed during the State Water Board's 2021-2022 Regional Drought Response. These tools provided the necessary information for the Division of Water Rights (Division) to assess water availability and issue water right curtailments to ensure adequate, minimal water supplies for critical purposes under the emergency regulation. Visit the Water Rights Demand Data Analysis Methodology webpage to learn more and try out the tool.

The Division used a water allocation tool adopted from the UC Davis Drought Water Rights Allocation Tool (DWRAT) to allocate available supply amongst water right holders based on their respective water right priority and water demands.

Water 101 Workshop: The Basics & Beyond by the CA Water Education Foundation, April 5, 2024

The annual Water 101 Workshop details the history, geography, legal and political facets of water in California as well as hot topics currently facing the state. Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in California, the one-day workshop on April 5 gives attendees a deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural resource. The workshop, hosted at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, will be beneficial to water district directors, water resource industry staff, engineering and environmental firm personnel, city council members, county supervisors, legislators, legislative staff, press, advocates, attorneys, environmentalists, public interest organizations and others.

More information and registration can be found on the website.

Water Rights Going Digital

Water Education Foundation: CA To Uncloak Water Rights as it Moves Records Online, 1/25/24

You can follow the Water Board on Instagram!

In the press:

• CA Water Plan eNews, 1/24/24
• Maven's Notebook, Jan 21-26, 2024

Weather Related:

• San Fran Chronicle: California weather set to see huge swings, ending in atmospheric river storm, 1/26/24
• CA Water Blog: Even when most of CA is dry doesn't mean we can't have floods, 1/29/24

Local:

• Mendo Fever: Ukiah Valley Groundwater Agency takes on Sustainability Challenges and Fee Dilemmas, 1/29/24 (the public workshop held in Redwood Valley on January 11, 2024)
• Sierra Club: The Push to Save the Coho at Dry Creek, 1/28/24

Climate Change:

• PPIC: Slowing Climate Change by Capturing Carbon, 1/22/24
• CNN: Water-guzzling ‘hot drought’ in the West is unprecedented in at least 5 centuries, study suggests, 1/24/24
• Forbes: Mitigating The Climate Adaptation Gap, 1/29/24

Groundwater Issues:

• CalMatters: California ranks high worldwide for rapidly depleted groundwater, 1/24/24
• Inside Climate News: Groundwater Levels Around the World Are Dropping Quickly, Often at Accelerating Rates, 1/24/24
• SJV Water: How a state-funded drought program was converted to help farmers take on flood water and permanently cut groundwater pumping (LandFlex Program), 1/23/24
• The Conversation: Humans are depleting groundwater worldwide, but there are ways to replenish it, 1/24/24

Other:

• DWR: DWR Assistance Program Helps Counties Prepare for Future Dry Conditions, 1/23/24
• Nor Cal Water Insight: Working with Nature: Managing California’s Water Resources Through Green Infrastructure, 1/24/24
• AgNet West: Water Strategy Outlined in California Water Commission Report, 1/26/24
• Washington Post: What a hand-cranked drill just revealed about the West’s ‘megadrought’, 1/24/24