Reservoir Storage & Operations:

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

New Trans Basin Diversion Proposal

On October 3, 2023, PG&E released the following statement on Sonoma/Mendocino/Round Valley Indian Tribes Proposal for Potter Valley Project’s Draft Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan:

 PG&E has made a non-binding acceptance in concept of the Sonoma County Water Agency, Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission and the Round Valley Indian Tribes proposal and agrees to include it in our November 15th 2023 initial draft Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan (SA). The acceptance of this proposal is non-binding and allows for continued discussion and public
Comment.  The initial Draft SA will be available for public review in November 2023 and will also include PG&E’s proposal to remove Cape Horn Dam.

• This proposal states that it has co-equal objectives of fish migration and water diversions.
• PG&E will include both the third-party proposal as well as our decommissioning plan in our initial Draft Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan.

Russian River Water Forum Updates

The Forum’s Planning Group met Thursday, October 5, 2023. Agenda items included updates from working groups and committees, and update on the new Eel-Russian Facility Proposal, and presentations from Lake County representatives. The meeting was recorded and will be available on the website soon.

As a reminder, there are upcoming deadlines in PG&E's decommissioning process with FERC. PG&E is scheduled to release the draft license surrender application on November 30, 2023. By December 31, 2023, the proponents of the New Eel-Russian Facility will form a Joint Power Authorities (JPA) as a regional entity to officially become PG&E’s counter-party in the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) negotiations.

More information is available on the Water Forum’s website: https://russianriverwaterforum.org/

 Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency

The GSA has a board meeting and rate & fee study workshop on October 12. Community members  are invited to attend the RFS workshop to become more familiar with rates and fees and why the GSA is working towards adopting a structure to collect revenue in the future. No decision will be made at this workshop and additional RFS workshops are scheduled in 2024 (please see the GSA website calendar).  https://ukiahvalleygroundwater.org/

California Water Plan Update 2023 Public Comment Period Begins

Information courtesy of the Department of Water Resources: The CA Department of Water Resources has released the public review draft of California Water Plan Update 2023. Members of the water community and people impacted by water management and policies are encouraged to help shape The Water Plan during the public comment period, which will run from September 18 through October 19, 2023. The Update 2023 can be found on DWR’s Water Plan webpage.

2023 Fall Funding Fair

The California Financing Coordinating Committee (CFCC) is pleased to invite you to attend our free 2023 fall funding fairs online and in-person.  November 1 and 8, 2023 will be online and November 14, 2023, will be in-person (see flyer for more information). The funding fair will provide the opportunity to learn more about available grant, loan, and bond financing options for infrastructure projects from federal, state, and local agencies. More information on the funding fair.

North Coast Resource Partnership Quarterly Meeting

North Coast Resource Partnership (NCRP) Leadership Council (LC) and Technical Peer Review Committee (TPRC) are meeting on Friday, October 20, 2023; 9 am – 3:00 pm. Location: Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Tish Non Village Community Center 266 Keisner Road, Loleta, CA

NCRP Meeting Webpage

Congratulations to the Sonoma-Marin Water Partnership

The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership earned multiple awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its work promoting the EPA WaterSense program and water efficiency in 2022. The awards were presented at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada and included a Partner of the Year Award and a WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award for the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, the organization’s second and seventh WaterSense awards, respectively.

Some of the accomplishments recognized by the Partner of the Year Award for 2022 included how the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership participated in several WaterSense campaigns, including Fix a Leak Week, Sprinkler Spruce-Up, Smart Irrigation Month, and When in Drought with newspaper placements, social media, web banners and WaterSense materials. To reach a wider audience, the Partnership translated many of its educational materials into Spanish. 

Throughout the summer of 2022, the Partnership held pop-ups at home improvement stores, farmers markets, nurseries, summer concerts, and other community events. At an event in June, the Partnership partnered with five local hardware stores; staff educated customers about saving water and gave away WaterSense-labeled showerheads and faucet aerators.  

Congratulations to the City of Ukiah

The City of Ukiah reached the milestone of over a BILLION gallons of water recycled. The City received a congressional certificate of recognition honoring the project. “Congratulations to the City of Ukiah and its groundbreaking Purple Pipe Project for producing one billion gallons of treated recycled water!” said Rep. Jared Huffman.

Congratulations to the City of Santa Rosa Water

This month the City of Santa Rosa was honored by the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) for our outstanding efforts to protect the community’s waterways from pollutants. Santa Rosa Water’s Storm Water & Creeks team proudly accepted CASQA’s 2023 Outstanding Public Outreach Project Award for their innovative and inspiring Streets to Creeks education campaign focused on preventing trash and pollutants from entering our waterways from neighborhood streets. Visit the website for more information.

Celebrate Water Professionals Appreciation Week Oct. 7-15

In the press:

• CA Water Plan eNews, October 4, 2023
• Maven's Notebook October 1-6, 2023

• CA Water Blog: The myth of normal river flow: Drought, floods, and management of California’s rivers, 10/1/23
• GVWire: Developing ‘Super’ El Niño Could Match California’s Great Deluge of 1997-98, 10/2/23
• PPIC: Is Agrivoltaics Right for California?, 10/3/23
• CA Dept Water Resources: New Water Year Underway, California Prepares for a Possible Wet El Niño Year, 10/4/23
• CalMatters: Making water conservation a ‘California way of life’: Controversial state rules could cost $13 billion, 10/5/23
• CalMatters: Which big California bills did Newsom veto? 10/9/23
• CA Water Blog: Happy New Water Year 2024!  – from 2023’s wild ride to the wilderness of 2024, 10/8/23