H.R. Downs, O.W.L. Foundation President; with Friends of the Eel River (FOER) Board member David Keller and FOER President Nadananda; Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) Zeke Grader and FOER Board member Fred Coyote Downey, at the victory celebrations of the Eel River suit in San Francisco.

The successful Friends of the Eel River law suit means that Sonoma County could see upwards of an 80% reduction of Eel River water flowing into the Russian river. Will the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) be able to honor existing water contracts with such a hefty reduction? SCWA General Manager Randy Pool has stated that current contracts are "still valid". Some people are wondering "for how long?"

John King explains

It had to happen and the timing is perfect.

For the past couple of decades both Sonoma and Marin Counties have continued to build and place reliance on artificial (Eel River) out-of-County water supplies. It is highly questionable whether Sonoma County can, with current consumption rates of both groundwater and surface water supplies, support itself exclusively on it's own water resources. There is no question that Marin County will be forced to develop a desalinization system to treat and prepare water for human consumption.

In 1999 the State of California, Department of Water Resources (DWR), contacted Sonoma County and offered assistance in developing a groundwater management plan. Here in Sonoma County the State has designated the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) to be responsible for ensuring that water resources remain sustainable, the Board of Directors for the SCWA is also our Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. The SCWA is the only authoritative body that has police powers in both the cities and the unincorporated areas of the County. The SCWA responded to the State's offer in 1999 and declared it had "no interest" in developing a groundwater management plan.

So here we are, Sonoma County is in the process of updating its General Plan for how the County will be governed for the next 20 years. The O.W.L. Foundation, it's Los Angeles based Attorney Ed Casey, and local citizens have battled hard to develop meaningful Water Resource Element Policy that will prevent growth when water supplies are not proven sustainable. The battle will continue with the Sonoma County Planning Commission.

The biggest threat here in Sonoma County is from the Cities who have grand plans for annexations of County Lands - once in the city jurisdictions the County has no control over how much growth takes place - the SCWA to date has refused to flex it's State granted "water-muscle".

Too many areas of the County have groundwater supplies that are in decline; it's a proven fact. In addition, the Sonoma County Water Agency is building two more collector stations (wells) on the Russian River to extract more water from adjacent gravel beds. The Eel River diversions are about to be decreased while countywide demand is on the rise. Decreased surface water (Eel River) places higher demand on groundwater supplies that are already in decline.

It won't work.

The first project to challenge this phenomenon is found in an existing subdivision known as West Canon Manor. The land where the subdivision is built is still zoned at 1 home per every 20 acres. In 1975 the State of California identified groundwater recharge zones and mapped them. As a consequence of the study and the related mapping, many areas of the County have restricted zoning so recharge areas will be protected.

Somebody looked the other way and higher density development began. There now exists about 110 homes on 1-acre lots in West Canon Manor, some of the 1-acre lots were further split. There are approximately another 108 1-acre lots waiting to be both split and developed. This same area is adjacent to Rohnert Park who is looking to annex over 1,000 acres of land, most of which lies within the footprint of the 1975 DWR mapping of recharge zones. All of the parcel owners were recently charged $40,000 per existing parcel to pay for a special assessment district imposed by the County. If the application for a zoning amendment is approved (1/2 acre density), groundwater supplies will recharge less if additional lots are developed. Surrounding area property owners continue to lose their wells as groundwater supplies decline with no relief in sight.

Neighboring Sonoma State University is growing rapidly; they rely on 2 wells for 60,000,000 gallons per year. With the recent on-campus housing expansion and subsequent increased groundwater demands neighboring property owners on Petaluma Hill Road have had their wells go dry in recent weeks, were talking about wells that are over 400 feet deep. There's nothing like turning on the tap and having mud come out, I speak from experience.

By the way, the City of Rohnert Park has gone on record stating that its wellfield (32 active wells which pump 4.2 million gallons per day) groundwater levels have dropped as much as 150 feet over the past 23 years. Water in these same areas used to be within 20 feet from the surface. Resulting land subsidence is beginning to show.

The Eel River Appellate Court decision is the much-needed leverage for the County to be forced to implement a groundwater management plan. We can't allow more growth without it in place first. The SCWA has been using "emergency wells" for the past three years; they are located on Sebastopol Road, Occidental Road, and Todd Road. They pump 3.6 million gallons per-day (mgd), 2.3 mgd, and 1.7 mgd respectively. The Todd Road well alone pumps more water per day than the entire subbasin of the Santa Rosa Plain recharges (1.6 mgd) as is identified in Rohnert Park's May 2000 Environmental Impact Report. Does using these three wells mean we're already in an emergency situation?

Now that the Court decision is final, when will Sonoma County Officials announce to the public we are about to have a lot less water?

This week there are 2 important meetings concerning the West Canon Manor Subdivision. Tuesday morning 9:00 am at PRMD, 2550 Ventura Avenue in Santa Rosa at the County Complex the Environmental Review Committee will determine whether or not an Environmental Impact Report should be prepared for the Subdivision.

On Thursday evening, same place at 5:00 pm, the Citizens Advisory Committee will be determining whether or not a zoning change should be made from the 1 house per 20-acre designation to 40 homes per 20 acres for West Canon Manor.

What do you think should happen?

John King
763-7023