Russian River Weekly Update 10/22/24

Russian River riverside tree, October 2024 by E Salomone

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Reservoir Storage & Operations:

Water supply information provided by Sonoma Water (find more water storage info here).

Data table showing storage details for Lake Mendocino, Lake Pillsbury, and Lake Sonoma including current storage, target, and changes.

A graph showing Lake Mendocino Storage levels over several years with capacity lines.

A graph showing Lake Pillsbury storage volumes and target storage levels over different years.

A graph displaying Lake Sonoma storage levels over multiple years with data points and storage curves.

Department of Interior announced $92 million investment in projects to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems

The White House FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Investments to Protect Freshwater Resources, Enhance Drought and Climate Resilience, 9/25/24

Bureau of Reclamation: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $92 Million from the President’s Investing in America Agenda to Restore and Protect Rivers and Other Aquatic Habitats, 9/24/24

State Helps Local Communities Prepare for Flood Emergencies with Latest Round of Funding

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is awarding $1.4 million in funding for nine emergency response agencies across the state to increase their ability to respond to flood events. This funding will help put resources in the hands of local first responders tasked with protecting our communities. These latest grant awards will provide funding to emergency response agencies to replenish and bolster local stockpiles of flood fight materials, such as sandbags and levee-reinforcing muscle-wall, and fund flood planning activities and training exercises. Award recipients include:

Blue Lake Rancheria in Humboldt County: $100,800
Butte County Office of Emergency Services: $110,250
City of Gonzales in Monterey County: $49,875
Humbolt County Office of Emergency Services: $189,000
Mendocino County: $288,887
Monterey Water Resources Agency: $189,000
Monterey County Department of Emergency Management: $162,750
Reclamation Districts 2091 and 2063 in Stanislaus County: $36,700
Sutter County: $262,500

A complete list of these grants and previous grant awards can be found on the Flood Emergency Response Projects Grants webpage. The funding comes from The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 84). More information

WATCH THIS SPACE for updates on Proposition 4, a $10 billion climate bond coming soon to a ballot near you

This fall, voters will decide whether California should authorize a $10 billion bond to help the state respond to climate change by funding a variety of environmental initiatives, including water projects, wildfire risk reduction, coastal resilience, sustainable agriculture, and parks.

Nature’s Engineers: Milestone for Beaver Restoration Will Improve California’s Watersheds

A beaver standing on grass, looking to the side with a slight head tilt.

“California's waterways are about to get a helping hand from an unexpected ally: the North American beaver. With the recent passing of Assembly Bill (AB) 2196, authored by Assemblymember Damon Connolly and supported by CalTrout, a comprehensive program for beaver restoration throughout California's watersheds is set to begin. This innovative approach leverages nature-based solutions to promote fish and freshwater resilience, offering a beacon of hope for our aquatic ecosystems” Read more here: CatTrout: Nature's Engineers: Milestone for Beaver Restoration Will Improve California's Watershed, 10/ 21/24

The Sacramento Bee: Beaver restoration program brings furry species back to habitats, tribal land across California, 10/4/24

“Beavers are an instrumental keystone species to our ecosystems, and they play a vital role in maintaining the habitats around them for the benefit of other species,” said Connolly in a news release. “The initiative to restore beavers back into their original wildlife habitats is beneficial to species recovery, improving habitat complexity, and enhancing watershed restoration through dam complexes.”

GROUNDWATER RELATED:

DWR: DWR Releases Webinar on Depletion of Interconnected Surface Water and Extends Paper Comment Period “To help Groundwater Sustainability Agencies address the depletion of interconnected surface water (ISW) in their Groundwater Sustainability Plans, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released a pre-recorded informational webinar summarizing the contents of three previously released draft ISW papers (linked below). The webinar also describes the next steps in the development of a guidance document which will aim to discuss the management of depletion of ISW. The guidance document is planned for release as a draft in winter 2024/2025 and DWR has included a call for public input to aid in the development of the guidance document via an online form as presented in the webinar or linked here: Guidance for Managing ISW Depletion Questionnaire. DWR requests that feedback be provided before November 30, 2024.”

DWR Releases Groundwater Conditions Update Highlighting First Decade of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, 10/7/24

Mendocino Voice: Drilling a well in Mendocino County just got easier, 10/4/24 “Going forward, Mendocino County has to find the balance between ‘drill, baby, drill!’ and ‘every drop counts.’”

Nature Sustainability: Unlocking aquifer sustainability through irrigator-driven groundwater conservation, 10/7/24

“Aquifer depletion due to intensive irrigation threatens global economies, food security and ecosystems. This Perspective examines the hydrological, social and economic complexities of managing groundwater resources, focusing on the Sheridan 6 Local Enhanced Management Area in the US High Plains aquifer. Here irrigator-led conservation efforts reduced groundwater use by 25% and slowed aquifer depletion by 65% while maintaining farmers’ incomes. This success resulted from a hybrid integration of bottom-up rule development with top-down enforcement, providing flexible multi-year water allocations and aligning management with local conditions.”