'Scarier by the day'

"It's getting scarier by the day," said Don Butow, a Redwood Valley grape grower and local water official.

The current lake level, a primary source of water for local water districts from Redwood Valley to Healdsburg, is already among the 10 lowest since the man-made reservoir behind Coyote Dam was completed in 1959.

By Tuesday the lake's level had fallen to 712.3 feet above sea level, a drop of more than two feet since Nov. 9. A record low of 688.7 feet was set in 1977 after two years of the worst drought of the 20th century.

Butow and other local water officials are fearing that a new record could be set.

"If we don't get some heavy rains over the next five to six weeks, we're in big, big trouble," said Butow, chairman of the Redwood Valley Water District.

Charlie Barra, a Redwood Valley native and local wine industry leader, said there's already less water available for local users than during the 1976-77 drought.

"The available water supply has not grown with demands over the last 30 years," said Barra.

The Redwood Valley district, which serves about 6,000 residents, is especially vulnerable to low lake levels. It's the only agency drawing water directly from Lake Mendocino, and its water intake valve is now just 12 feet below the lake's surface.

Redwood Valley already is working with local and state emergency officials about what steps might have to be taken in the event of a worst case scenario. Butow said the district plans to impose a 75 percent cutback in available water for domestic consumption if the rains don't materialize soon.

Redwood Valley customers earlier this year joined tens of thousands of water users in Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties who heeded a call in early summer for water conservation to preserve more water in Lake Mendocino for migrating fish during dry fall months.

"We average a 30 percent reduction, significantly more than the 15 percent asked for by the Sonoma County Water Agency," said Butow. The Sonoma agency controls the bulk of water stored behind Coyote Dam, located on the east fork of the Russian River about two miles upstream from Ukiah.

Redwood Valley, unlike other inland Mendocino County water agencies, doesn't have a guaranteed right to stored water in Lake Mendocino during dry periods. The district has a long history of struggling to find other sources of water in the face of a court-imposed moratorium on new water hook-ups.

Redwood Valley is facing a convergence of population growth, a 33 percent cutback in Eel River water diversions into the east fork of the Russian River, and more water releases downstream to aid migrating salmon.

Butow said the worsening situation could end in a "perfect storm, and I don't mean the beneficial kind."

This past weekend, Butow and other valley residents were initially buoyed by a light rain. Butow said the runoff raised a parched fork of the Russian River that flows by his vineyards by about four inches.

"But then I realized it was just four inches more than nothing, and that's pretty scary," said Butow.

You can reach Staff Writer Mike Geniella at 462-6470 or mgeniella@pressdemocrat.com.