Dryness triggers water worries

The driest March-April spring on record is prompting regional water officials to pump up water conservation efforts because we're headed for a second summer of reduced water pumping from area reservoirs.

"With two dry months, it is not looking good for the water supply," said Sonoma County Water Agency spokesman Brad Sherwood. "Everyone needs to get used to another summer of using less water."

In the past two months, total rainfall amounted to only 0.62 of an inch, less than half the previous record low of 1.55 inches in 1988. During the March-April period that preceded last year's water shortage, it rained a total of 2.86 inches.

Water storage levels in Lake Mendocino and Lake Pillsbury over the next 30 days will be crucial in determining just how much water the 600,000 water agency customers in Sonoma and northern Marin counties will have to cut back usage.

If, by May 31, the combined Mendocino and Pillsbury storage is between 130,000 and 150,000 acre-feet, then the water agency will be obligated to declare the situation bad enough that flow on the upper Russian River will be reduced from 185 to 150 cubic feet per second.

And if the combined storage is lower than 130,000 acre feet, then flow must be reduced to 75 cubic feet per second, which would mirror last year's situation that forced residents and business to drastically cut their usage.

Last summer, droughtlike conditions prompted the state to mandate a 15 percent reduction in water usage; customers responded by reducing usage by 21 percent.

The huge reduction was achieved by customers reducing lawn watering and other usage as well as through municipalities increasing reliance on well water.

Today, combined storage sits at about 138,000 acre-feet.

Not much runoff is expected over the next 30 days into Lake Mendocino, but Mount Snow is still draining water into Lake Pillsbury, Sherwood said.

Sherwood said the water agency is already gearing up a "less is more" campaign with its first pitch this morning to the municipalities that contract with the agency for Russian River water.

The agency supplies water to residents of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Cotati, Sonoma and water district service areas in the Valley of the Moon and northern Marin County.

"Using less water means more for the rivers, the lakes and the fish," Sherwood said.

Convening at the Santa Rosa sewage treatment plant, the water advisory commission is expected to discuss the potential for a second summer of shortages, as well as water rights exercised by farmers, businesses and government agencies that pull water out of the Russian River.

Seeking relief from sinking reservoir levels last year, the water agency sought permission from the state Water Resources Control Board to lower flows along the river, which allowed reservoirs to retain more water. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the state Department of Fish and Game supported the county, citing the need for sufficient cool water from Lake Mendocino to support the Chinook salmon fall migration in the river.

"We don't plan to go to the state water board to seek mandatory reductions," Sherwood said. "Community response last year was amazing, so we think we can work locally to reduce water diversions from the river."

News researcher Teresa Meikle contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.