As of Friday morning, there was just above 48,150 acre-feet of storage in Lake Mendocino, and at the beginning of August, the reservoir was described as being only “62.9 percent of its Target Water Supply Curve,” according to data shared by the Mendocino County Water Agency.
On Monday, the Mendocino County Drought Task Force is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah.
First on the agenda is an update from the countywide Drought Task Force Committee, then “Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Draft Mendocino County Water Agency Implementation Plan,” which will include an “update from the Stand-Alone Mendocino County Water Agency Funding Ad Hoc Committee.”
The full agenda can be found here: https://mendocino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx, though it is listed as the “Public Health, Safety, and Resources Committee.”
According to the latest update from Mendocino County Water News, compiled by the MCWA, these are some of the reports from water managers throughout the county provided at the beginning of August:
Fort Bragg: John Smith, Director of Public Works, reported that the late rains pushed back water conservation restrictions by several weeks. Nonetheless, at its July 25 meeting, the City Council implemented mandatory Stage 1 water conservation restrictions, as current water supply conditions started showing the effects of a third year of drought. The Stage 1 conservation targets a citywide 5% – 10% goal reduction in seasonal water usage. The Noyo River has dropped 1.5 cubic feet per second over the past week and the city’s two other water sources are very low compared to previous years. The combined source flows provide approximately 4.1 million gallons per day.
Mendocino: A Stage 4 Water Shortage Emergency remains in effect in Mendocino and the Mendocino City Community Services District’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan is active. Details about the plan’s requirements can be found at https://www.mccsd.com/.
Unincorporated Coast: Water manager Larry Miller wrote that “of the eight public water systems (he) operates on the Mendocino Coast (from south of Albion to just south of Ft. Bragg), none have had to buy water.”
City of Ukiah: The City of Ukiah has produced approximately 220 million gallons of recycled water so far this season. “The recycled water offsets demand on the Russian River and Lake Mendocino,” noted Sean White, Director of Water and Sewer. The city will be installing a self-serve recycled water facility in the next few weeks available for water trucks as well as private citizens. It also just completed rebuilding Well 8 to improve both production and efficiency.
Brooktrails: Brooktrails has begun reaching out to customers who are exceeding the maximum allowable monthly water usage cap of 9,000 gallons. Tamara Alaniz, Community Services District (CSD) General Manager, said that the only source of water supply for Brooktrails is rain and runoff and the CSD may impose physical restrictors in water lines and/or penalty fees on customers who use more than the maximum monthly amount. She also noted that “this third year of drought is a critical time for customers to manage their water use and conserve our limited supplies through to the next rain.”
The MCWA also shared an update on the Potter Valley Project: On July 27, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PGE) flow variance request for the Potter Valley Project reducing flows from the Project to the East Fork Russian River to 5 cubic feet per second (cfs) with the potential to increase to 25 cfs depending on storage in Lake Pillsbury.
The 5 cfs represents a dramatic reduction in water deliveries: since May 15, releases from the Potter Valley Project have been 75 cfs. The 5 cfs target has several caveats. Potter Valley Irrigation District will continue to receive water but only on a demand-based schedule and not to exceed 50 cfs. In addition, PG&E has the discretion to limit deliveries in order to maintain Lake Pillsbury above 30,000 acre feet through Sept. 15. No buffer (extra) water will be released to prevent flows from dropping below 5 cfs. The variance takes effect immediately.
On July 28, the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Water Rights posted an updated Curtailment Status List on the Russian River Drought Response webpage that took effect on Aug. 1, 2022. In addition, in response to FERC’s approval of the variance, the division stated that they “will closely monitor flow conditions, but staff expect to post a revised Curtailment Status List in early August reflecting the reduced water availability in the watershed. Further curtailments are expected at that time.” One ramification of this turn of events is that the State Water Board is expected to pause the much heralded and ground-breaking Voluntary Water Sharing Program that enabled Russian River water rights holders to voluntarily reduce water usage and share available water.
