![]() The decision then was made to release water downstream but a severe drought lasting until 2015 arrived, resulting in serious reductions in water storage and river flows.įollowing that, the Sonoma agency and the Corps engaged with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography to develop a more sophisticated forecasting system. The Sonoma County water agency and the Army Corps learned a hard lesson in 2012 after storms pushed Lake Mendocino water levels into the reservoir’s so-called flood pool. “It provides more flexibility,” said Rodriquez. It is called FIRO (Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations) which Rodriquez, White, and others say better informs decisions to retain or release water behind dams. White said it is “still anyone’s guess how this ends up but there is no doubt we are going to be in a better position than we have been in the last couple of years.”Ī major difference in this era is a new forecasting system for Russian River reservoirs, which has twice now allowed state and federal authorities to increase water supply benefits while managing for flood risks. “We are most certainly in a better situation now than in the last few years, but honestly, ‘feast or famine’ at Lake Mendocino is not a new thing,” said White, a longtime North Coast water expert. His proclamation in April 21 gave the state Water Resources Control Board authority to curtail water rights in the counties of Mendocino and Sonoma. Gavin Newsom and an entourage of water officials showed up at Lake Mendocino, held a news conference, and dramatically proclaimed a drought emergency because of severe conditions in the Russian River watershed. It is a stark change from three years of drought, when Lake Mendocino’s water level dwindled to a record low. Army Corps of Engineers steps in to oversee management for flood control,” said Rodriquez. “We are not there yet but we are nearing a tipping point where we stop managing the lake for water supply, and the U.S. Yet there are concerns about how fast Lake Mendocino will rise, and when flood measures must be put in place. The reservoir also provides critical flood control to protect communities like Guerneville, which would suffer even more drastic flooding issues if Coyote Dam was not in place.Īndrea Rodriquez, a spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Water Agency which controls the bulk of water stored behind Coyote Dam, said Saturday the current level in Lake Mendocino is amazingly nearing an “adequate water supply level” for the New Year. Downstream flows support threatened Chinook salmon and steelhead trout during fall and winter seasons and provide irrigation and frost protection for thousands of acres of farmland between Ukiah Valley and Healdsburg. Water from Lake Mendocino is key to the drinking water sources for the communities of Ukiah, Hopland, Cloverdale, and Healdsburg. On Saturday, on the eve of a third expected major rainstorm, the lake’s volume measured about 63,000 acre feet. ![]() Lake Mendocino’s capacity is 68,400 acre feet of water. “Nothing has gotten the lake to these levels in recent years. The reservoir’s rising level is good news amid a series of rainstorms, power outages, high winds, downed trees, and local flooding. By mid-January, Lake Mendocino’s water storage could be almost three times the amount measured just several weeks ago at the end of November. The unexpected change is from a series of rainstorms that are expected to last into the coming week. ![]() It has filled a big hole in the local water supply,” said Sean White, the city of Ukiah’s water director. The surging east fork of the Russian River is fast filling up the lake, promising to end three years of drought conditions with current levels on Saturday reaching close to 100 percent of the target water supply level for the coming year, according to local and state water officials. On a soggy weekend all eyes are on Lake Mendocino, the rapidly filling reservoir behind Coyote Dam north of Ukiah. ![]()
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