After years of planning on a future increase in the water supply, the Sonoma County Water Agency voted unanimously last week to withdraw its request to the state for more Russian River water.
The policy reversal puts long-term pressure on the Valley of the Moon Water District and the city of Sonoma to make up the difference through continued conservation, greater use of recycled water and “new alternative water supply projects.”
One prime water-saving strategy is a moratorium on new water hook-ups. The Sonoma City Council will take that issue up sometime in October.
The water agency, Sonoma City Water Agency, had been seeking state permission to increase its annual delivery to its eight clients, including the VOMWD, of 75,000 acre-feet a year to 101,000 acre-feet a year. Current use is 54,000 acre-feet a year.
“With conservation, the 75k is enough to meet the 2020 plan,” board member Valerie Brown told the Sun. The county board of supervisors sits as the SCWA board of directors.
The policy shift abandons the overall Water Supply and Transmission Project, which entailed building the infrastructure to deliver more river water. The agency quoted an estimated cost of $600 million, a tab to be paid ultimately by water customers.
The cost, and the environmental impact, of the energy needed to pump that much water are important considerations, said SCWA director Shirlee Zane. “We need to invest in implementing sustainable strategies to guarantee water supply.”
Randy Poole, SCWA general manager, advised the meeting that “the water project is no longer environmentally, financially, or practically feasible.” Formally terminating it, he said, will allow “the water contractors and the agency to commence work to develop and implement new alternative water supply projects to meet reasonable future demands.”
Poole’s report said that asking the state for more water would put the SCWA at risk of actually coming away with less water. As Brown explained “We’re using 54k, and we have an allocation for 75k. They could most certainly say, ‘We’re going to cut what you get.’”
SCWA Chairman Paul Kelley said, “In simple terms the question is, should we jeopardize the water we have by asking for more? Or secure the water rights we have by delaying our asking for more? Our first priority must be securing our existing rights.”
Another factor is the impact of SCWA’s operations on native fish. A federal mandate to protect the river habitat, Kelly said, “Makes it clear that SCWA must focus on securing its existing water supply.”
Brown told the Sun that water conservation efforts have reduced system-wide usage by 35 percent. “It’s much different than it was six years ago,” she said. “We’re doing a better job of looking at water conservation, including ground water strategies first developed in the Sonoma Valley.”
Brown said the new policy acknowledges that without new strategies, “There will not be water for everyone.”
The water agency, SCWA, sells water to eight contractors, including the VOMWD. All felt blindsided by the agency plan – first announced in mid-August which negated years of planning and negotiation.
Krishna Kumar, VOMWD general manager said the 101,000 acre-feet a year figure was the cornerstone of the SCWA’s own projected water needs assessment. The VOMWD now faces “a complete void with no plan in place for meeting the long-term water needs,” he said.
SCWA contractors include the cities of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sonoma and Petaluma, the town of Windsor and Valley of the Moon and North Marin water districts.
Santa Rosa sought a restraining order to delay the SCWA board ruling, but it was denied the day before the meeting.
