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Sonoma County Gazette, November 2010

RRWPC Settles Lawsuit with Russian River County Sanitation District (RRCSD) over Storage Basin EIR

By Brenda Adelman

For the last year and a half, Russian River Watershed Protection Committee (RRWPC) has been quietly challenging the Russian River County Sanitation District’s (RRCSD) approval of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a new Storage Basin at the Treatment Plant.  We have finally reached a settlement with the District.

RRCSD Expansion Project divided into four parts…..
The Sonoma County Water Agency are operators and managers of the RRCSD. Their Board of Directors is the Board of Supervisors, who also sit as the Board of Directors for the Water Agency, and who had previously separated treatment plant expansion into four parts.  They required each of these parts to be addressed separately, even though they should have been considered together for potential impacts to be examined in full.

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Sonoma County Gazette, January 2011

Jenner Estuary Project: SCWA Releases EIR on Project to Control River’s Mouth

by Brenda Adelman

Who in Sonoma County has not witnessed the magnificent splendor of crashing waves at the merging of the Russian River and the sea?  Who has not watched the tides wash along the sand, painting brief and ever changing images before immediately disappearing again? Who has not viewed the chubby new seal pups snuggling at their mother’s side, or the gulls joining in wide swoops as they dance in the sky, proof that Mother Nature’s artistry is unmatched and her ordering of the elements, profound.

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Sonoma County Gazette, May 2011

Protest Hearing Announced for Fee Increases: Russian River County Sanitation District

Brenda Adelman

Ratepayers in the Russian River County Sanitation District (RRCSD) recently received an orange notice announcing fee increases for the coming year.  Sewer charges on the 2011 tax bill will go up to $1,153 for each E.S.D. (equivalent single-family dwelling).  Those of you who own more than one developed District parcel should have received one notice for each of your parcels and will have to pay that amount for each one.

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May 2010: Temporary Low Flow Request

LETTERS NEEDED RE Temporary Emergency Petition to lower flows

May, 2010

Dear RRWPC Supporter:

THE RUSSIAN RIVER NEEDS YOUR HELP….AGAIN!! Please send enclosed letters to State Water Board and Sonoma County Water Agency. Also, feel free to make copies and have others sign and send as well.  (These are different letters from the one we circulated in our last mailer.)

Background….
Picture this: the reservoirs are fuller than they have been in years and everyone is sighing relief at the expectation of having normal water supplies this year.  You are grateful that this will be a summer when you can water your garden without feeling guilty about it.  But no, sorry, the lower river will probably get low flow…..again!

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January 2010: Monte Rio Sewer Concern

MONTE RIO SEWER; LOWER RIVER LISTING FOR PATHOGENS

January, 2010

Dear RRWPC Supporter:

RRWPC continually receives large numbers of documents, reports, articles, and studies about our water environment.  Sifting through the mound of paper and emails to decide what is important and what can be tentatively ignored or thrown out can become a humongous task.  Often we use precious storage space to save things that end up falling by the wayside.  The piles of information grow as the ability to absorb it all declines.

When our work began (1980), there were few computers and no Internet.  Information was hard to come by and sometimes expensive to obtain. Sometimes it seems that there is more attention paid to completing mountains of reports and studies, while losing touch with how human activities impact the natural world.   Species loss is happening at an alarming rate, and when we figure out what to do, it’s often too little and too late.

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September 2010: Upcoming EIR & Clean Water 303(d) Listing

UPCOMING EIR; CLEAN WATER LISTING

September, 2010

Dear RRWPC Supporter:

Summer water quality in the lower Russian River has been rapidly degrading as Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) wages an aggressive ad campaign to assure people that they care about the river.  Weekly ads have been promoting their efforts.

RRWPC responds to SCWA via Press Democrat Letter to Editor….
For instance, a recent Press Democrat weather page contained a SCWA ad touting the environmental friendliness of the water supply and featuring a beautiful picture of the Russian River.  The ad asserted that the Biological Opinion (BO) will save endangered fish and protect our environment.  RRWPC responded in a letter to the Editor: “They failed to mention that the BO demands a permanent 44% decrease in flows (125 cfs to 70-80 cfs) in the lower Russian River in order to maintain a closed Estuary for the Steelhead, while not flooding a relatively few properties in Jenner.” The letter continues:

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