In the latest meeting of the Redwood Valley County Water District Board Meeting on December 21, 2023, critical decisions and ongoing challenges regarding water management took center stage. From approving necessary expenditures for backflow testing meters and addressing the aftermath of a destroyed fire hydrant to the exploration of water sources on the Masonite site, the board grappled with a spectrum of issues.
The Board discussed some large recent expenses appearing on the financial statements. These concerned backflow testing meters, rebuilding the 500 hp motor at the Lake Mendocino pump station, and replacing the fire hydrant on East Road that had been destroyed by a driver under the influence. Replacing the hydrant should be covered by insurance. It was decided that these were necessary expenses and the Board voted to approve the financial statements.
The auditor has not yet finalized the annual audit, which is expected to be done in January. Water use needs to be reported to Russian River Flood Control by the end of the year.
Lake Mendocino is up almost two feet from the recent rains. Redwood Valley received approximately five inches of rain in the week prior to the meeting. The lake level had been down to about 50,000 acre feet before the storm.
The Board discussed the December 7 Russian River Water Forum Planning Group meeting. There were few attendees from the Russian River side of the group. The big topics of that meeting were the decommissioning of Scott and Van Arsdale dams, and habitat restoration of the Eel River watershed. General Manager Jared Walker estimated that PG&E’s draft surrender plan will be amended several times before it is finalized and submitted to FERC.
The test well drilled on the Masonite property did not produce enough water to support a municipal well for Redwood Valley. The Millview County Water District already has a well on this site and has rights to drill another well on the site for Redwood Valley. The existing Millview well has been supplying Redwood Valley with water, but the District would like to secure its own source of water, without having to purchase it from another water district. LACO, the engineering firm hired for the project, is working with a new team, Balance Hydrologics, to go over the previous studies and data, and to attempt to find a deep pool of water for a municipal well for Redwood Valley. Balance Hydrologics has previously performed work for the City of Ukiah, and has expressed optimism about finding water on the Masonite site. Board member Cassie Taaning requested that LACO provide a summary of work to date and a budget, including how much has been spent so far. The consultants wanted to know whether they should look for possible drilling sites in Redwood Valley again, and whether attempts to drill several smaller wells would be effective. Walker pointed out that the infrastructure for the intertie is already in place on the Masonite site, and it might be too expensive to connect several smaller wells in different locations. It will depend on the studies that come back from Balance Hydrologics.
The Board next discussed the consolidation efforts of the districts comprising the Upper Russian River Water Agency. The Board’s stance is that the continued diversion of Eel River water is important to the consolidation effort. The local attorneys are still revising the JPA Agreement with the attorneys for the State, who had concerns about non-commitment. Some of the individual district directors want their legal teams to review the draft again as there are concerns about water rights, representation on the 10 seat JPA board, and water rates.
The invoice from the Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency that had been tabled last month was discussed. Monitoring and providing reports on groundwater has been mandated by the State. The UVBGSA was set up with grant funding, but ongoing operations are to be funded by the GSA. The money necessary for monitoring the groundwater in Ukiah Valley will have to be raised. How to raise the money is still to be determined. There will be a public meeting to discuss this on January 11, 2024 from 6 to 7:30 pm at the County Behavioral Health Training Center in Redwood Valley. More information is available at the UVBGSA website. The Board will revisit the invoice at the January meeting.
The Board voted to send a letter to PG&E in support of the New Eel-Russian Facility. The deadline to submit comments was December 22, the day after the Board meeting. Board President Adam Gaska said that it is important to urge State and Federal officials to support funding for the New Eel-Russian Facility, as Mendocino County doesn’t have enough money to pay for the remodeled diversion facilities. The loss of water stored in Lake Pillsbury means that Potter Valley and Redwood Valley will be in need of large ponds for water storage.
Creating more water storage locally will be very expensive, and local water management agencies are trying to figure out how to pay for this. Everything is in flux currently, and nobody knows how much it will cost, or who will pay for it. If the local water districts and the county fail to act in time, the water from a new diversion could all end up going to Sonoma, as was the case when Lake Mendocino was built and Redwood Valley voters declined to pay for it.
Director Bree Klotter requested that next month’s agenda include a discussion of the $7 million loan from the Bureau of Reclamation.
