Sept 9, 2003
The letter below is an historic
document. It states, for the first time in Sonoma County
history, that unlimited growth is finished. For ninety
years, water from the Eel River has been diverted and made
to flow into the Russian River. This water bounty has fueled
growth. But a recent court decision will curtail these
diversions. Exact figures of by how much is not known,
nevertheless,
the handwriting is on the wall.
August 11, 2003
TO: All Contractors, Customers, and Water Diverters under Agency Rights
RE: STATUS UPDATE REGARDING RUSSIAN
RIVER DIVERSIONS REPORTED UNDER SONOMA COUNTY WATER AGENCY
DIVERSION/REDIVERSION RIGHTS (1993 - 2002) AND LIMITATIONS
ON THESE RIGHTS
The purpose of this letter is to provide
you with current information regarding the Sonoma County
Water Agency's (Agency) Russian River water supply and
offer the Agency's assistance in compiling the data necessary
to evaluate and track the adequacy of the remaining supply.
We hope the information will assist you in preparing the
water supply assessments and CEQA analysis now required
by state law and in complying with Section 8(a) of the
Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Water Transmission
System Capacity Allocation among the Agency's water contractors,
Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD), and the Town of
Windsor (MOU).
The Sonoma County Water Agency's
state water rights permits limit the Agency's Russian River
diversions
and re diversions to 75,000 acre feet per year. The Agency's
Water Supply and Transmission System Project ("WSTSP")
had contemplated an increase in diversions and rediversions
to 101,000 afy. However, with the Court of Appeal decision
in the Friends of the Eel River litigation, the Agency
cannot implement the WSTSP at this time. Thus, it would
be inappropriate for water suppliers relying on water diverted
under the Agency's water rights to anticipate water deliveries
based upon diversions of 101,000 afy, or to rely on the
delivery estimates in the Agency's Urban Water Management
Plan 2000 (which indicated that water supplies available
to the Agency's water transmission Customers would be adequate
over the next 20 years.) However, the analysis contained
in the Urban Water Management Plan of the quantity of water
available for diversion and rediversion remains valid.
Last year the Agency reported diversions
and rediversions of 63,841 acre-feet, well below the Agency's
current 75,000 afy limit. However, the additional amount
of water that will be used by projects within the Agency's
customers' service areas that have been approved but not
yet completed is unknown. This information must be compiled
in order to determine how much of the 75,000 afy remains
available for projects that have yet to be approved.
The Agency's water supply and transmission
facilities provide a primary water supply to a number of
public water suppliers. In addition, other public water
suppliers divert water directly from the Russian River
under the Agency's water rights but do not use the Agency's
water supply and transmission system. The enclosed table
lists the public water suppliers that receive Russian River
water under the Agency's water rights. The Agency's water
supply facilities include five collector wells and seven
conventional wells along the Russian River near Forestville.
A sixth collector well is under construction and should
be
P.O. Box 11628 - Santa Rosa, CA 95406
- 2150 W. College Avenue - Santa Rosa, CA 95401 - (707)
526-5370 - Fax (707) 544-6123
Page 2
completed in the summer of 2004. In addition,
the Agency operates three wells in the Santa Rosa Plain
to augment production capacity of the Russian River water
supply facilities. The Agency's diversion of water from
the Russian River is regulated by appropriative water right
permits administered by the State Water 'Resource Control
Board (SWRCB). The Agency developed the WSTSP to meet the
future water demand that is contemplated by approved general
plans governing the service areas of the Agency's contractors
and customers. A component of the WSTSP consists of increasing
the authorized total annual limit an diversions under the
Agency's water rights from the currently approved 75,000
afy to the 101,000 afy discussed above. In the Friends
of the Eel River litigation, the Court of Appeal concluded
that the Agency's Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for
the WSTSP was inadequate because it did not adequately
consider the potential effects on the Russian River of
potential reductions in diversions by PG&E's Potter
Valley Project from the Eel River into the Russian River.
Consequently, the WSTSP EIR must be supplemented to address
the issues raised in the Court of Appeal ruling, and the
Agency's Board of Directors must then reconsider the WSTSP.
Until these issues are resolved and the SWRCB approves
an increase in the annual limit in the Agency's water-right
permits, the Agency's Russian River water supply will be
subject to the existing limit of 75,000 afy.
In addition, as you are aware, coho salmon,
steelhead, and Chinook salmon in the Russian River and
its tributaries have been listed as "threatened species" under
the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). In response to
these listings, the Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
and the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and
Water Conservation Improvement District are involved in
a Section 7 Consultation under the ESA with NOAA Fisheries
(formerly National Marine Fisheries Service). One of the
objectives of the Section 7 consultation is to ensure compliance
of the Agency's operation of its current and future facilities
with the ESA. The Agency does not expect to be able to
seek approval from the SWRCB for any permanent increase
in the 75,000 afy limit until the consultation has been
completed.
The enclosed chart presents the past 10
years (1993 through 2002) of Russian River diversions under
the Agency's water rights entitlement. The total diversions
for water year 2002 from the Russian River under the Agency's
water rights were 63,841 acre-feet. These diversions include:
(1) water diverted to the Agency's transmission system
For its contractors and customers (59,803 acre-feet in
2002); and (2) water diverted by other entities (4,038
acre-feet in 2002) under the Agency's water rights (i.e.,
the Russian River County Water District and the Town of
Windsor) as authorized by contracts with the Agency. The
enclosed chart does not include water that may in the future
be diverted (but is not currently diverted) under the Agency's
water rights by the City of Healdsburg, the Occidental
Community Services District, and the Camp Meeker Parks
and Recreation District under their contracts with the
Agency. The petitions that would amend the Agency's water-rights
permits to authorize these diversions are pending before,
but have riot been acted on, by the SWRCB.
As previously mentioned, the Agency is
providing this information to assist in the planning and
CEQA activities of all public water suppliers that receive
water from the Agency's water supply and transmission system
facilities and those suppliers that report some of their
diversions under the Agency's water rights. These planning
efforts include complying with recent legislation requiring
that public water suppliers with 3,000 or more service
connections prepare water supply assessments (SB 610) or
verification of sufficient water supply (SB 221) for certain
development projects. Because there may be substantial
delays before the Agency completes the supplemental WSTSP
EIRE and the Board of Directors reconsiders the WSTSP,
managers of all public water systems relying on water diverted
under the Agency's water rights must work together with
local planning agencies to determine the extent to which
additional supplies are available to each system for proposed
new developments, given existing demand, existing approved
development, the
° The MOU was signed by the Cities
of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sonoma, and Petaluma;
the Valley of the Moon Water District, the Forestville
Water District., the North Marin Water District, the Town
of Windsor, the Marin Municipal Water District, and the
Sonoma County Water Agency.
Page 3
water remaining available under the Agency's
75,000 afy limit and other supplies that each public water
supplier may have available. While the Agency is in a position
to monitor the amount of water that it delivers and is
diverted under its water rights and provide that information
to you, the Agency does not monitor either the amount of
water you obtain from non-Agency sources or the planning
and development within the service areas of each public
water supplier.
As you know, Section 8(a) of the MOU,
copy enclosed, specifies that the parties to the MOU will "consult
with agencies that have planning and zoning powers within
their water service territories." To provide a meaningful
assessment and monitoring of water demand, the Agency urges
your organization to undertake the coordination efforts
outlined below. These activities should be coordinated
with all water suppliers using Russian River water diverted
under the Agency's water rights and their respective land
use planning agencies. The MOU will expire on September
30, 2005 and the coordination outlined below will provide
a basis for renegotiation or a successor agreement.
So that the Agency may assist you in the
needed assessment, we recommend the following:
1. All water suppliers relying (entirely
or in part) on water diverted under the Agency's water
rights should immediately evaluate the expected future
water demands for existing and approved development projects
and provide the Agency and each other with that information.
You should also identify the source of water for the projects
(from the Agency, recycled, or other);
2. The Agency will compile the information
and prepare a report for you so that you will be aware
of how much of the 75,000 afy remains available for projects
not yet authorized and approved;
3. All water suppliers should then evaluate
the future water demands anticipated from proposed, but
not yet approved, development projects. Again, upon receipt
of the information, the Agency will compile the information
into a report for each of you.
4. Staff of the Agency and water suppliers
should meet at least every 6 months to review the information
and monitor the status of proposed projects and identify
other steps as may be necessary.
In the future, the Agency will also be
able to compare actual diversions with previous estimates
to track actual demand relative to estimated demand. Effective
planning coordination activities will ensure our continued
ability to provide a safe and reliable water supply. Should
you have any questions regarding this matter please call
either Pam Jeane or Jay Jasperse of my staff.
Sincerely,
[original signed]
Randy D. Poole
General Manager/Chief Engineer
Encs
c George Flicks, Jim Flugum - City of Healdsburg Pete Parkinson - PRMD
Board of Directors
Pam Jeane, Jay Jasperse, Chris Murray, Bill Keene - SCWA
/u/admgt/janeg/rdp/08srussianriver diversions.doc
Public Water Suppliers Receiving
Russian River Water Under Sonoma County Water Agency
Water Rights
Transmission System Contractors
City of Petaluma
City of Cotati
City of Rohnert Park
City of Santa Rosa
City of Sonoma
Valley of the Moon Water District
North Marin Water District
Forestville Water District
Transmission System Customers
Town of Windsor
Kenwood Village Water Company
Penngrove Water Company
Marin Municipal Water District
Lawndale Mutual Water Company
California American Water Company
Non-Transmission System Public Water Suppliers(1)
Town of Windsor
Russian River County Water District
(1) Does not include water suppliers with agreements with the Agency that do
not yet have
approval from the State Water Resouces Control Board to divert water under
the Agency's water rights.
2. Add one operator shift at Stafford
Treatment Plant during the summer months or make improvements
to the plant to permit 24 hour per day operation to increase
peak month
production capacity of the plant.
VOMWD: 1. Accelerate implementation of
BMP 5 to July 1, 2001 as it pertains to: (1) offering water
use surveys to customers with large landscapes; and (2),
providing ETo based water use budget information to customers
having dedicated irrigation meters.
2. In cooperation with Sonoma, undertake a demonstration project of the feasibility
of a
service that efficiently operates irrigation time clocks at residential sites.
MMWD: 1. In cooperation with Las Galinas
Sanitary District and subject to all applicable laws, codes
and regulations, evaluate the feasability of expanding
the advanced wastewater treatment plant and recycled water
transmission and distribution system to deliver approximately
3.0 mgd of recycled water that will offset potable water
use.
Windsor: I. Accelerate implementation
of BMP 5 to July 1, 2001 as it pertains to: (1) offering
water use surveys to customers with large landscapes; and
(2), providing ETo based water use budget information to
customers having dedicated irrigation meters.
The obligations set forth in this section may be amended in the same manner
as set fourth in Section 4 (d) of this MOU.
SECTION 8 - BUILDING REGULATION AND PLANNING
COORDINATION
(a) The parties to this MOU agree to consult
with agencies that have planning and zoning powers within
their water service territories in the manner set forth
in California Government Code Section 65352.5 in order
to promote close coordination and consultation between
water supply agencies and land use approval agencies to
ensure that proper water supply planning
occurs in order to accommodate projects that will result in increased demands
on water supplies
(b) The parties to this MOU agree to consult
with agencies that have building regulatory powers pursuant
to the Government Code and Health and Safety Code to promote
use of water conservation equipment, fixtures, appliances,
devices and techniques.
SECTION 9 - SURPLUS WATER DELIVERIES
(a) Effective the date of this MOU, the
Agency has determined that surplus water shall only be
made available to water contractors for their direct use
or for delivery to their surplus water use customers at
rates and on such terms said water contractors shall solely
determine.
