The Russian River drains the
sparsely populated, forested coastal area that stretches from San
Francisco to the Oregon border.
Along the Russian, federally funded dams have created Lake
Mendocino (at the Coyote Dam) and Lake Sonoma (Warm Springs Dam).
Locally built aqueducts channel water from these lakes into
growing Marin and Sonoma counties.
The Russian River is one of the most flood-prone rivers in
California, routinely overflowing during wet years. As storm
systems approach California, the wet bands of clouds are uplifted
by the Coast Range, releasing precipitation first and most
intensely on the coastal streams. One flood control dam is on the
Russian River and one on Dry Creek, a tributary to the Russian
River, which can capture about 20 percent of flood flows.
In addition to flooding issues, the Russian River faces other
challenges to balance competing demands for its water. In an area
that was once legacy to massive numbers of salmon and steelhead,
restoring the fishery has been a key focus, while water providers
must accommodate municipal needs as well as those of grape
growers in one of the world’s most prized wine-producing regions.
Recently, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a
concerned citizen against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(Corps) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) alleging
Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations in connection with the
Corps’ operation of the Coyote Valley Dam on the Russian River
in Northern California. The court opined that federal
defendants cannot avoid having to defend their prior actions
simply by initiating the consultation process under section
7(a)(2) of the ESA, and the equities weighed against a stay of
the litigation while the consultation process unfolds.
Neil McIsaac has something many other dairy farmers here don’t:
a storm-runoff capture system that can provide backup water for
his herd when local reservoirs go dry, as they did last year.
Already, he and others involved in the project say it has
proven its worth. It has captured 670,000 gallons so far this
winter, enough to slake the thirst of his 700 cows for a month,
Mr. McIsaac said.
A conversation with UCCE Viticulture Advisor Dr. Chris Chen
(Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino Counties) and soil scientist Noelymar
Gonzalez-Maldonado (UC Davis) about regenerative viticulture,
soils, and climate resilience in vineyards. Released February
24, 2023.
Sonoma County will be hosting a special public meeting of the
Board of Supervisors on Monday to discuss water infrastructure
and climate change challenges as well as possible water rate
hikes. The county says that its water, wastewater and flood
protection systems are more than a half-century old and are
therefore precarious in the face of a large earthquake, climate
change and wear and tear. Sonoma County Water Agency is
the county’s wholesale supplier of water to communities in both
Sonoma and Marin counties, serving more than 600,000 people,
according to the county. Six water collector wells exist near
the Russian River and three groundwater wells. Water pumped
from these wells goes through 88 miles of aqueducts that are
between 45 and 65 years old.
For Patrick Sing, a water manager with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the deluge was an opportunity to try something that
would be dangerous anywhere else in the country. Sing sits at
the controls of Lake Mendocino, a reservoir on the Russian
River near Ukiah, in northern California. … Researchers
working on the approach in the U.S. say they aren’t aware of
any similar projects in other countries,
but studies suggest that integrating forecasts
has the potential to improve reservoir operations anywhere
weather predictions are sufficiently reliable. The approach
could also help aging dams respond to more variable
precipitation seen with climate change.
As a series of deadly storms whipped through California’s wine
country, liquefying fields and turning vineyards into wading
pools, thousands of farm workers in the region were forced to
stay home. Though the power has been long since restored and
roads reopened – many of them are still confronting an economic
catastrophe. For Isidro Rodriguez, the storms caused him to
lose half his monthly income – about $1,100. For nearly two
weeks, it was too wet and windy to safely prune the pinot noir
vines at the estate vineyard where he worked. Even still, he
risked the roads to drive over there during lulls in the
storms, just in case.
It sounds like an obvious fix for California’s whipsawing
cycles of deluge and drought: Capture the water from downpours
so it can be used during dry spells. Pump it out of
flood-engorged rivers and spread it in fields or sandy basins,
where it can seep into the ground and replenish the region’s
huge, badly depleted aquifers. … Yet even this winter, when
the skies delivered bounties of water not seen in half a
decade, large amounts of it surged down rivers and out into the
ocean. Water agencies and experts say California
bureaucracy is increasingly to blame — the state tightly
regulates who gets to take water from streams and creeks to
protect the rights of people downriver, and its rules don’t
adjust nimbly even when storms are delivering a torrent of new
supply.
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.
Standing under a shady tree drooping with pomegranates late
last year, Brad Simmons, a retired metal fabricator who has
lived in Healdsburg, California, for 57 years, showed off his
backyard orchard. Along with the apple, cherry, and peach
trees, he’s packed one pear tree, two lemon trees, and a
century-old olive tree into his bungalow’s compact garden. Of
course, the small grove requires plenty of water — an
increasingly scarce resource in a state that continues
grappling with a historic drought despite recent torrential
rains. Yet Simmons, like many of his fellow 12,000 residents,
has managed to keep much of this wine country community north
of San Francisco looking verdant while slashing the city’s
water use in half since 2020.
Deep underneath the sodden soils and the berms of snow that now
coat California, fuels for fire are waiting to sprout. Grasses
and other quick-growing vegetation, spurred by the downpours
that saturated the state at the start of the year, quickly turn
to kindling as the weather warms. … While experts say it’s
still too early to predict what’s in store for the months ahead
and if weather conditions will align to help infernos ignite,
it’s clear the rains that hammered California this winter came
as a mixed blessing, delivering badly-needed relief while
posing new risks. Along with seeding the tinder of tomorrow,
the inclement weather hampered efforts to perform essential
landscape treatments needed to mitigate the risks of
catastrophic fire. … The cold, rainy conditions also
helped forests recover from the drought, which will make them
more burn-resistant. Water tables are looking far better and
bug species that wreak havoc on vulnerable trees are being
better kept at bay.
After two meetings and nine hours of hearings and public
testimony, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday evening voted
unanimously to declare an emergency in an effort to save the
Clear Lake hitch — a fish at the heart of Pomo culture — from
extinction. The board’s proclamation of a local emergency,
which can be read in its entirety below, cites drought and
habitat loss as factors in the potential extinction of the
hitch, known to the Pomo as the chi. The hitch is a native
minnow that lives up to seven years, spawns in creeks and then
makes its way to Clear Lake. Supervisor Moke Simon, a member of
the Middletown Rancheria, fished for them with his family and
tribe growing up, and on Tuesday recalled seeing the creeks run
black with the fish.
Many of California’s watersheds are
notoriously flashy – swerving from below-average flows to jarring
flood conditions in quick order. The state needs all the water it
can get from storms, but current flood management guidelines are
strict and unyielding, requiring reservoirs to dump water each
winter to make space for flood flows that may not come.
However, new tools and operating methods are emerging that could
lead the way to a redefined system that improves both water
supply and flood protection capabilities.
California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.
That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
The Russian River is one of the major northern streams that drain
the sparsely populated, forested coastal area that stretches from
San Francisco to the Oregon border.
Other North Coast waterways include the Klamath, Trinity, Eel and
Smith [see also North
Coast Rivers]. These rivers and their tributaries flow west
to the Pacific Ocean and account for about 40 percent of the
state’s total runoff.
Travel most anywhere in California and there is a river, creek or
stream nearby. Some are highly noticeable and are an integral
part of the community. Others are more obscure, with intermittent
flows or enclosed by boxed concrete flood channels that conceal
their true appearance. No matter the location, each area shares
some common themes: cooperation and conflict regarding water
allocations, greater water conservation, an awareness of
environmental stewardship, and plans that ensure long-term
sustainability.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the Russian and
Santa Ana rivers – areas with ongoing issues not dissimilar to
the rest of the state – managing supplies within a lingering
drought, improving water quality and revitalizing and restoring
the vestiges of the native past.
