Benefits of rainstorms in Sonoma County far outweighed damage they caused
When atmospheric rivers drenched the North Bay in December and January, the Lockharts greeted those heavy rains with open arms and undisguised relief. Daunting and destructive as those storms were — causing widespread flooding, downed trees and mudslides — they brought a bounty that soaked a parched landscape, easing stress and strain on a wide range of flora and fauna. Joining the Lockharts’ chorus of hallelujahs were farmers and ranchers, anxious water supply experts and — if they could sing — coho salmon and steelhead trout now migrating up the recharged Russian River and its now-swollen tributaries, to spawn.