Mendocino County may be facing water shortages again this summer unless more rain falls on the county this spring, according to the Sonoma County Water Agency.
The agency announced Friday that it is encouraging residents and members of the agricultural and business communities to make plans for water conservation ahead of possible shortages.
"Now is the time of year residents and businesses and the agricultural community should be planning how they will reduce their water consumption for this year," said SCWA Deputy Chief Engineer of Operations Pam Jean.
March was not a good start to the spring rain season. Just over half-an-inch of rain fell in the county, compared to the four-and-a-half inches normally expected in March. While the county has received nine more inches of rain that it had at this time last year, it is still seven inches shy of the average for this time of year.
In an attempt to avoid another dry summer like 2007, the SCWA last month asked the Army Corps of Engineers to raise the depth of Lake Mendocino. The Army Corps agreed to raise the depth of the lake 12 feet.
"After receiving our request to increase the water supply pool in Lake Mendocino, the Corps quickly responded," Jean said. "Having the ability to implement flexible and proactive measures with the Corps is exactly what our region needs as we learn more about climate change and its impacts on our water resources."
As of Thursday, storage in Lake Mendocino was 80,700 acre feet, more than 9,000 acre feet more water than the lake held at this time in 2007.
Last year, a combination of low winter rainfall and a reduction in flows through the Potter Valley Project caused a precipitous drop in the storage at Lake Mendocino, forcing the SCWA to implement a 15 percent reduction for all its customers and suggest similar cuts in Mendocino County.
The lake eventually dropped below 30,000 acre feet, forcing the Redwood Valley Water District board to declare a water emergency. That order was rescinded by the board when it started to rain earlier this year.
The Sonoma County Water Agency is scheduled to appear at a meeting on April 15 before the State Water Resources Control Board to discuss water challenges in the Russian River Watershed. Topics for the meeting include potential amendments to in-stream flow requirements, water rights permits, the Potter Valley Project, the Russian River Watch Rights Accounting Program, strategies related to illegal and unscheduled diversions from the Russian River and updated water conservation practices.
For more information about the meeting, go to http://www.sonomacountywater.org/
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