Major water policy changes on the way….At a time when the Russian River is most at risk, and also because of it, a major convergence of issues and an associated massive shift in water policy is being gradually revealed by the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA). The proposal of many changes to occur over the next few years, stimulated by the need to address drought and greatly diminished Eel River water transfers, includes managed flows at a level we have seldom seen in our lifetimes.
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Letter to PD Editor, 3-2022
Sirs: Jennifer Burke, head of Santa Rosa’s Utilities Department, speaking at the recent Drought Town Hall organized by Sonoma Water, gave a thorough description of many water-saving conservation programs available to local citizens. Her ...
Possible grave harm to lower river from extremely low flows
From: Brenda Adelman <rrwpc@comcast.net> Date: Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 12:42 PM To: Lynda Hopkins <Lynda.Hopkins@sonoma-county.org> Cc: Grant Davis <grant.davis@scwa.ca.gov>, “Boland-Brien, ...
RRWPC Newsletter, February 2022: New Housing Won’t Solve Housing Shortage
Drought again! Last November, we thought we were done with drought. It was raining so hard, and for so many days, we almost wished it (the rain) would go away. Now we’re sorry, aren’t we? This January we got almost nothing, although the wind is drying everything out and we are told that the fire season has begun. (We had less than an inch of rain between January 1st and mid-February, 2022,
120 New hotel Units: Impacts on Sewer?
RRWPC Comments (October 26, 2021) on: Lok Guernewood Park Development Co.,
Permit Sonoma File No. PLP18-0012
For Public Hearing by Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) on October 28, 2021
Introduction:
RRWPC came into being in 1978 as a result of concerns about the initial planning and construction of the Russian River County Sanitation District (RRCSD). We commented on the many issues that arose during construction. We initiated three successful citizen propositions attempting to change certain aspects of the project. And we have tracked the project, and its many evolutions, ever since.
RRCSD went on line in 1983 and has had many challenges ever since. In the last 7-8 years the collection system has shown signs of significant wear and tear and some officials have informally estimated that repairs
RRWPC Newsletter, Sept.2021: Drought & Plans for new septic regulations
Wait and See…..Since early this year, as the reservoirs declined and the rain failed to fall, Sonoma County water purveyors suffered a severe case of ‘wait and see’. Early on, it was ‘wait and see’ if the rain comes and the reservoirs fill, even when limited falling rain was greedily absorbed by vegetation and thirsty soil before reaching the creeks. Then it was ‘wait and see’ how much water was being conserved; as time sped by and reservoirs dropped quickly. Even then, in June and July, no one seemed ready to panic. Lowering minimum flows to 35 cfs was also thought to save the day, but that didn’t make much difference in reservoir levels either.