Sonoma Water E-News | May 2023 |
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It’s National Drinking Water Week |
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Sonoma County is well known for its premium beverages. From world-class wines to award winning beers, one thing we are famous for is great things to drink. But this week we celebrate another wonderful local beverage-our most natural one- our drinking water!
Sonoma Water provides high quality drinking water to nine cities and water districts in portions of Sonoma and Marin counties. Sonoma Water ensures its drinking water is of the highest quality and meets all state and federal water quality requirements by performing daily, weekly and monthly tests. In addition to Sonoma Water tests, the cities and water districts which receive this water also perform individual water quality sampling and tests.
The Source
Sonoma Water produces water from the Russian River that is pumped from wells about 100 feet below the riverbed. This system of pumping is called riverbank filtration. Six groundwater wells, also known as collectors, pump the water through natural sands and gravels that act as a filtering system. The system produces high quality drinking water that does not face the water quality concerns that affect many public water systems throughout the United States. Sonoma Water does not provide surface water taken directly from a river or lake to its customers.
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Our Water Supply and Transmission System
Sonoma Water manages and maintains a water transmission system that provides naturally filtered Russian River water to nine cities and special districts that in turn delivers drinking water to more than 600,000 residents in portions of Sonoma and Marin counties. You receive your drinking water and water bill from your local city or water district. We provide drinking water to the following cities and special districts: City of Cotati, Marin Municipal Water District, North Marin Water District, City of Petaluma, City of Rohnert Park, City of Santa Rosa, City of Sonoma, Valley of the Moon Water District, Town of Windsor.
Watch this video for an overview of our water supply and transmission system:
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Russian River Water Forum to Hold First Planning Group Meeting |
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Russian River Water Forum Background
The Russian River Water Forum is a collaborative effort initiated by Sonoma Water and a collection of regional partners with funding from the California Department of Water Resources. The Water Forum will seek to identify water-supply resiliency solutions that respond to PG&E’s planned decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project while protecting Tribal interests and supporting the stewardship of fisheries, water quality, and recreation in the Russian River and Eel River basins. More broadly, the Water Forum will support ongoing regional collaboration on water supply and watershed restoration issues in the Russian River and Eel River basins. More information is available on the Water Forum’s website.
The Russian River Water Forum Planning Group will be holding its first meeting on Wednesday, May 17th and members of the public are invited to attend. The meeting will be held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center; there will also be a Zoom option.
The Planning Group is comprised of approximately 30 members representing a cross-section of interests in Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, and Humboldt Counties.
Planning Group Meeting Details
- Time/Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, from 10 am – 3 pm.
- Location: Ukiah Valley Conference Center, Room Cabernet 1, 200 S School St, Ukiah, CA 95482.
- Lunch will be provided for Planning Group members. Refreshments will be provided for all attendees.
- The agenda and further logistical information will be posted to the website one week in advance of the meeting.
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Please RSVP for the meeting here. Registration helps us plan for and host the most effective meeting.
Reference Materials
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Planning Group Charter. This draft charter includes the purpose and guidelines of the Planning Group and will be certified by the Planning Group.
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Stakeholder Assessment Findings. This document summarizes the themes and takeaways from Kearns & West’s stakeholder assessment, conducted in fall 2022.
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Tribal Assessment Findings. This document summarizes the themes and takeaways from Kearns & West’s tribal assessment, conducted in 2022 and 2023.
Please reach out to the Planning Group facilitation team with any questions: Henry DeRuff (415) 651-2598, Jim Downing (707) 474-8615.
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Celebrating 50 Years of Spring Lake
Spring Lake Regional Park is one of the most popular parks in the county, and its 320-acres for recreation has been beloved by all ages for fifty years. Did you realize that Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) built the lake itself as a flood control reservoir between 1961 and 1964?
The reservoir consists of three steel and concrete dams, spillways, channels and flow regulators, and represents one of Sonoma Water's most ambitious flood protection projects. The infrastructure diverts floodwaters from Spring Creek and Santa Rosa Creek into Spring Lake, alleviating seasonal flooding for downtown Santa Rosa.
The lake is designed to accommodate water equal to a 100-year flood (in other words, a storm that, based on past records, has a 1 in 100 – or 1 percent – chance of occurring in any year.) Only once since the lake's construction, in 1986, has flooding been so severe as to exceed Spring Lake's capacity.
When Spring Lake floods during wet winters, it’s behaving exactly as it was designed to by diverting and slowing flood waters to protect the city of Santa Rosa and the thousands of residents who now call the neighborhoods around the park home.
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Community Meeting for Lake Sonoma Fire Resilience Tuesday, May 16, 2023 |
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The Northern Sonoma County Fire District and Ag Innovations will be bringing together a wide range of leaders in the Lake Sonoma watershed to share emerging fire resiliency best practices and lessons learned, deepen relationships, and assess the next best actions to accelerate fire resiliency in the critical Lake Sonoma watershed. This meeting will include speakers, community dialogue, tables and exhibits, and the opportunity to meet and talk with your neighbors about fire resiliency. We would like to invite these groups to join this community meeting
- Residents, farmers and ranchers, business leaders, and land managers who live or work in the Lake Sonoma watershed in Sonoma County
- Tribal and Indigenous leaders who have ties to the Lake Sonoma watershed or an interest in learning or sharing about cultural burning practices.
- Local and state agencies, universities and colleges, and NGOs with an interest in fire resilience and in the Lake Sonoma watershed
- All who care about fire resiliency in Lake Sonoma
When: Tuesday, May 16 from 3 pm - 7 pm
Where: Geyserville Oriental Community Hall 1000 California 128 Geyserville, CA 95441
Free, Register in advance on Eventbrite
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13th Annual Eco-Friendly Garden Tour Saturday, May 13
Don’t miss the 13th annual Eco-Friendly Garden Tour returning to an in-person format on Saturday, May 13th! This FREE self-guided tour, hosted by the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, focuses on low water use, sustainable landscaping at 17 inspirational gardens throughout Sonoma and Marin counties, including the personal gardens of local landscape designers, architects, and garden enthusiasts.
If you are interested in landscaping your yard like the pros, or simply looking for fresh ideas for future landscaping projects, the garden tour is the perfect event for you! This year we are lucky to have the tour fall on Mother’s Day weekend, making it a perfect event to take mom along with you.
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Helping Neighbors Leverage the Power of Information to Manage Groundwater
David Noren knows what it’s like to depend on groundwater. He grew up in Bennett Valley in a home with a well and has for the last 30 years lived in his Sebastopol home that also draws its water from the Santa Rosa Plain. He also works in water, as a manager of environmental services at EBA Engineering where one of his many duties involves assessment of water quality. Over the years he has developed a keen perspective on groundwater as a shared community resource which demands our collective care and management. And he’s got some practical ways to make that happen.
Depending on well water is not uncommon in Sonoma County, where there are thousands of wells, with 5,700 of those wells belonging to rural property owners. In Sebastopol, the only water available to residents and businesses is groundwater. Climate change weather patterns, which can swing unpredictably from very dry to very wet annually, have made some rural residents anxious about the conditions of their water quality and supply. So back in 2012, Noren got together with some of his neighbors to organize the Sebastopol Water Information Group, or SWIG.
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Free Sonoma Valley Sanitation Tour in Spanish June 10
Explore Sonoma County’s wastewater treatment facilities, including the lab monitoring millions of live protozoa and microorganisms essential for cleaning and recycling wastewater.
Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Saturday, June 10 – Tour facilitated in Spanish
Free, Registration required
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Rainfall and Water Storage Update
Current water supply conditions as of 5/8/2023:
Lake Mendocino FIRO* Target Water Storage Curve: 109,577 acre-feet
Current Storage: 99,914 acre-feet (91.18% of FIRO Storage Curve)
Lake Sonoma Target Storage Curve: 264,000 acre-feet
Current Storage: 263,635 acre-feet (99.86% of Water Supply Pool)
Current rainfall conditions (10/1/22 – 5/7/23)
Ukiah:
Average (1894-2022 water years): 34.86"
Current Water Year: 38.9” which is 111.5% of average
Santa Rosa:
Average (1950-2022 water years): 29.10"
Current Water Year: 41.77” which is 143.6% of average
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Upcoming Events
The Board normally holds its regular meetings on Tuesdays, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and will be facilitated virtually through Zoom and at Board of Supervisors Chambers (BSC) 575 Administration Drive 102A.
•May 16 BSC/Virtual
•June 6 BSC/Virtual
•June 12 BSC/Virtual Special Meeting
•June 13 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearing
•June 14 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearing
•June 15 BSC/Virtual Special Closed Session
•June 16 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearings
•June 20 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearings
June 21 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearings
•June 22 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearings
•June 23 BSC/Virtual Budget Hearings
Board Agendas:
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Fact of the Month
Facts about Aqueducts
Aqueducts aren't a high-tech modern invention—the ancient Romans had aqueducts to bring water from the mountains above Rome, Italy to the city. n California, aqueducts are essential to get water from a place where it exists in ample supply to where it is scarce.
Sonoma Water has 88 miles aqueducts (pipelines), which deliver drinking water throughout portions of Sonoma and Marin counties. Made from concrete cylinder metallic pipe, our oldest aqueducts were installed in 1957; and range from 16-inches to 54-inches in diameter.
These pipelines deliver naturally filtered, safe and reliable drinking water to more than 600,000 residents in Sonoma and Marin counties. It is vital that we maintain our assets and continue to provide a high level of service to our community.
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Employment Opportunities
Sonoma Water has job openings for people with a variety of skills and experience.
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Sonoma Water | 404 Aviation Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 | SonomaWater.org |
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