In order to protect fish habitat and drinking water supplies during the current drought, the State Water Resources Control Board announced Wednesday it is restricting water diversions in the Upper Russian River basin.
The restrictions affect 930 “junior” water rights holders whose rights date from after 1914 and come in the wake of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s April drought emergency declaration for Sonoma and Mendocino counties. That declaration now includes 41 counties.
“Unless we immediately reduce diversions, there is a real risk of Lake Mendocino emptying by the end of this year,” said Erik Ekdahl, deputy director of the Water Board’s Division of Water Rights.
“We need to implement the water rights system to protect supplies in case of another dry winter, which could transform the Russian River into a series of disconnected pools and restrict the availability of drinking water in the area,” Ekdahl said.
The restrictions announced Wednesday will likely remain in effect until winter rains restore water flows. People violating them could face daily fines of up to $1,000.
According to the Water Board, as of April 30, Lake Mendocino was at 43 percent of capacity and Lake Sonoma was at 62 percent, the lowest on record for this date.
So far this year, rainfall in Santa Rosa and Ukiah is less than 40 percent of long-term averages and 2020 was, at the time, the third-driest year on record, according to the Water Board.
The Russian River watershed includes Sonoma and Mendocino counties, and water stored in Lake Mendocino north of Ukiah is released downstream to maintain flows in the Upper Russian River.
7 comments
what shock from the democratic failures
won’t build damns, but will demand money from the feds after each environmental “opportunity” exposes the lack of maintenance
keep building homes despite reports like this and oh ya, we live in a desert!
ignore federal/state building that waste water, see the concord main post office
but it is all the democrats know, ignore problems and then when it can’t be ignored call it a crisis and raise rates, decrease service and then go back to ignoring the problem, or create a blue ribbon commission to study obvious things that a child could likely point to as a problem
#RecallGavinNewsom
What will they do if there is a real drought for a number of years? If uncle joe wants infrastructure projects you know what to do. Not wait until the well is dry. Start building a desalination plant or two or three now.
…. am in absolute agreement!
The question I have is why was nothing done since the last drought to increase the water holding capacity to save more water during wet years?
SOS, same old story.
Give money to everyone and everything but simply restrict water usage.
Then the water commission says it’s the worst drought on record.
Records go back at best only 200 years.
In time, that’s less than a nanosecond.
More scare tactics for the gullible and self-imposed ignorant.
I have a well… so I’m Ok.
If it runs dry, no problem I live right on the edge of a river & I can start up a pump…. only problem is electricity isn’t free…. unless you’re Jojo.
What you gonna do when the well runs dry?
You gonna run away and hide
I’m gonna run right by your side
California had plenty of water until the morons in charge decided to release half of the water (in some cases more than half) held in reservoirs to save a couple kinds of fish. FISH?? How about HUMANS???
In March I noticed that Contra Costa Canals around my home were either near dry or completely dry. A short time later they are 2/3+ full. That’s when I found out about reservoirs being drained for the fish.
Only in California!!
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