That was my high, but the heat wave is broken, and it's 46.
Been getting lots of rain; don't know if the drought is over, but it sure is nice. Except I'm sick of it...
Water supply decisions delayed; officials pray for more rain
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, March 2, 2009 at 1:05 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, March 2, 2009 at 1:08 p.m.
An agreement between the Sonoma County Water Agency and its major customers on how much water will be available this year has been put off for a month, with some hoping the recent rains will change the picture.
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“What we don’t know is the climate situation in 30 days. It could pour buckets and our reservoirs would be replenished,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Susan Gorin.
Gorin also said that with the wet weather now drenching the North Coast, it’s harder to sell residents on conservation.
“There is a disconnect,” said Gorin, who is vice chair of the Water Agency’s advisory committee.
The advisory committee represents the agency’s major buyers: the cities of Windsor, Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sonoma and Petaluma and the Valley of the Moon, North Marin and Marin Municipal water districts.
Those agencies serve an estimated 600,000 people.
The agreement was for 52,000 acre-feet this next year, about 10 percent less than last year, but on Monday it was deferred until April 6 by the advisory committee.
During the critical months of June through October, however, the agency would deliver 5,000 acre-feet a month, which is only 70 percent of demand.
That would require conservation measures of up to 30 percent, depending on how the cities and districts use wells and other reservoirs to supplement allocation.
While Lake Sonoma is now about 85 percent full, the Water Agency can deliver only 5,000 acre-feet a month down Dry Creek without harming the fish habitat.
Lake Mendocino, which in a normal year provides 30 percent of the water to the major customers, this year is critically low and that water will be available only for customers from Ukiah to Healdsburg.
Chris DeGabriele, general manager of the Northern Marin Water District and chairman of the agency’s Technical Advisory Committee, favored approving the agreement Monday.
“We are in a drought, we need to respond accordingly,” DeGabriele said. “That Lake Mendocino might fill is unlikely, we are in March and it is half of what it was last year.”
DeGabriele said the Technical Advisory Committee has not decided how the water allocation would be divided among the major customers.
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