Protecting the Russian River Watershed, for fish and people

By Supervisor James Gores

In response to “Under the influence…”, published in the February 19, 2016 edition of the Sonoma Valley Sun; disappointed that the article contains incorrect information and assertions.

The author highlighted the Emergency Order regulation sent out by the State Water Resources Control Board and Department of Fish and Wildlife in four Russian River tributaries — in efforts to keep in-stream flows at a sustainable level for endangered coho salmon in these “nurseries” of the Russian River.

He asserts that I and two other County Supervisors met with State officials to advocate for an exemption for vineyard and wine producers in these areas. This is false.  I was the only Supervisor who attended those meetings, and no such requests were made.

Two of these watersheds lie within my Supervisorial District. I went to Sacramento with the Department heads from our Permitting and Water Departments, as well as Sonoma County’s Resource Conservation Districts, to learn what the regulators were planning and how we at a local level could take action to keep water in those streams throughout the summer and into the fall.  Mind you, I first learned about the pending regulations in a local newspaper article, not from the regulators.

Furthermore, the article asserts that the County advocated for specific provisions of the regulation.  Again, this is false.  I have publicly stated that, in my opinion, their exempting agriculture from the Conservation Order was not the right choice, since it essentially created a hotbed of angst between neighbors in these critical watersheds, when instead we needed a collaborative, all-hands-on-deck approach.

I have worked diligently on this issue over these past six months, and was greatly encouraged upon seeing that many in the vineyard industry responded by adopting Voluntary Drought Initiative plans, thereby agreeing to operate under the same conditions as rural residents.

But, more needs to be done.

These four watersheds are critical to the survival of endangered central coast coho salmon, not just in the tributaries, but the entire Russian River Watershed as a whole.  I am currently working with our resource agencies and conservation districts to take further action throughout this year to turn these impaired watersheds into success stories – for fish and people alike.

We will consider well-setbacks, increased small storage, rainwater catchment systems, and a litany of other opportunities.  I’m hoping we can create a mix of policy and incentive programs targeted in these areas.

This is all a part of good public service, not politics, and we must all work together to build long-term resilience and protect these resources.

I wanted to use this opportunity to set the record straight, and ask for help from all stakeholders in this collaborative effort.  If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact my office at james.gore@sonoma-county.org.

James Gore, Sonoma County 4^th District Supervisor