Water Conservation Alert - ACTION NEEDED!

We need YOU and your friends to write a letter to the State Water Board by April 24 and speak up for protecting water quality in the River! We will be urging the Board to modify the low-flow order to better protect the River during what will be a long, hot summer.

The State Water Board is about to act on water conservation policy that will impact Russian River communites when it sets madates for river flows. The deadline for letters to be included in their packets of decision-making material is April 24th - BUT - you can stil send letter of your concerns if you miss that particular deadline. Keeping the water board informed of impacts their decisions have on or communities is vital to the health and well-being of many.

Please see that sample letter below and re-write it according to your own concerns. You can copy it from this page. I'm also giving you a link to the Russian Riverkeeper web site so you can get a WORD document of ths letter and learn more on our river and water issues.

LETTER MUST BE SENT TO BOTH PARTIES LISTED IN THE ADDRESS SECTION!

Thanks for being a participating member of our home.

http://www.russianriverkeeper.com/

Template of letter

(Insert Date)

Jeannie Townsend
Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Randy Poole
General Manager/ Chief Engineer
Sonoma County Water Agency
PO Box 11628
Santa Rosa, CA 95406
(E-mail commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov & randy.poole@scwa.ca.gov)

RE: Comments for May 6th Workshop on Order WR 2009-0027-DWR


Dear Chairman Hoppin and Members of the Board,

I am writing to express my concern regarding impacts related to Order 2009-0027- DWR and modifications in permit terms that would reduce those impacts. The reduction in flows will cause severe impacts to water quality, recreation, community water systems, over-summering juvenile salmon and Steelhead as well as the lower River economy that depends on a healthy Russian River.

--------------------------
Your personal story here…..make it personal, include your history on the river and why ensuring a healthy river is important to you.
For example:

I have lived along the Russian River for 25 years and spend most days at the River swimming with our family. I am concerned that without additional protections this flow reduction will result in the river not being clean enough for my family to swim in this summer.

Or-

I have lived in the lower River area for 15 years and have seen how the past low water years of 2004 and 2007 caused the river to become filled with algae and warmer than a bathtub. Talking to some friends in town their businesses suffered from less visitors because people were staying away due to the low flows. The lower river economy depends on summer visitors to make it through each year and this flow reduction will harm local businesses.
--------------------------------

In order to reduce the impacts from reduced flows under Order 2009-0027-DWR we urge you on May 6 to take action to protect water quality and beneficial uses in the Russian River.
Specifically we urge you to:

- Increase frequency of chemical water quality monitoring to every two weeks with results posted promptly on a public website to proactively prevent water quality problems such as algae blooms from increased nutrient concentrations

- Include new provisions in the order to require flow changes in response to violations in water quality standards or as needed to protect juvenile ESA listed fish over the summer, the water agency released water to protect grapes from frost on April 14 to 16th so we expect increases to protect water quality as well

- Installation of additional gauges as needed to ensure instantaneous flow compliance levels are maintained, in 2004 and 2007 compliance levels were violated under previous orders

- A minimum of 25% mandatory conservation for SCWA customers and all users downstream of Dry Creek to to help maintain flows and conserve water in case of multi-year drought.

- Mandatory conservation by all permitted water diversions upstream of Dry Creek including agricultural and rural residential diversions and streamside wells pumping underflow

- Additional prohibitions in the Order on diversions that are not permitted in critically dry conditions or if needed a separate order restraining those unpermitted diversions to protect water storage in Lake Mendocino and maintain higher flows

- Keep order prohibition on commercial turf irrigation in SCWA service area and expand to include all commercial turf using water from the Russian River

We believe that modifying the order to include these provisions will improve protection of water quality, juvenile endangered fish and likely result in somewhat higher flows due to reduced diversions. We greatly appreciate your consideration of our comments.

Sincerely,


(Your name)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION - from Russian Riverkeeper Don Mc Enhill

Friend of the Russian River,

We need YOU and your friends to write a letter to the State Water Resources Control Board, if possible before April 23rd, to let them know about the severe impacts that will result from reducing flows under their recent Order 2009-0027-DWR.

Background:
Due to reduced rainfall and poor management we are facing the lowest levels in Lake Mendocino in 32 years. This caused the Sonoma County Water Agency to petition to reduce flows to conserve water in the Lake to provide for flows all summer and for fall king salmon migration. The State Water Resources Control Board issued Order 2009-0027-DWR to allow SCWA to reduce flows this summer. This order was signed without a public meeting so Riverkeeper objected and a meeting will be held on May 6th in Sacramento to listen to public comments and potentially modify the order. The Board can change the order as a result of the workshop and Riverkeeper and others will be giving comments at the hearing and your letters will help support our calls for the State Board to do the right thing and improve the order to better protect the river and provide the best flows possible in this difficult year.

This decision will reduce flows to critically dry year levels of 35 cubic feet per second (cfs) or a 72% reduction from a normal water year and a 59% reduction from a dry water year. Part of this is due to lack of rain and part is due to lack of proper water management. A flow reduction down to 35 cfs could mean more algae blooms that harm juvenile salmon and river recreation, increases in pollutants that will harm recreation and could impact local wells and severe impacts to the local economy that depends on a healthy Russian River.

There are ways the State Water Board can reduce the impacts on the lower Russian River community and your letter will help them make a good decision for the health of the River and our endangered fish. We need people to inform the Board members how bad the impacts will be and what they will mean to you personally either due to impacts on your families recreation or impacts to river wildlife and water quality.

We need you to support calls for:

- Increase frequency of chemical water quality monitoring to every two weeks with results posted promptly on a public website to proactively prevent water quality problems such as algae blooms from increased nutrient concentrations

- Include new provisions in the order to require flow changes in response to violations in water quality standards or as needed to protect juvenile ESA listed fish over the summer; the water agency released water to protect grapes from frost on April 14 to 16th so we expect increases to protect water quality as well

- Installation of additional gauges as needed to ensure instantaneous flow compliance levels are maintained, in 2004 and 2007 compliance levels were violated under previous orders

- A minimum of 25% mandatory conservation for SCWA customers and all users downstream of Dry Creek to help maintain flows and conserve water in case of multi-year drought

- Mandatory conservation by all permitted water diversions upstream of Dry Creek including agricultural and rural residential diversions and streamside wells pumping underflow

- Additional prohibitions in the Order on diversions that are not permitted in critically dry conditions or if needed a separate order restraining those unpermitted diversions to protect water storage in Lake Mendocino and maintain higher flows

- Keep order prohibition on commercial turf irrigation in SCWA service area and expand to include all commercial turf using water from the Russian River

We have provided a basic template e-mail but if you have time please do write a personal letter of your own.

Try and include some information about the impact the flow reduction would have, how it would impact you specifically and what you want the State board to do (list above). It won't hurt to have some people asking for an increase in flow levels, unfortunately there isn't much more than water they can add but they still need to hear that request especially as the SCWA works to permanently reduce flows in the future.

Deadline for including in Board members meeting packets Friday April 24th - if you talk to friends after the 24th letters still go in the record and make a difference but if at all possible getting them in before the 24th is best. As per Board procedures on water rights we have to also send a copy to SCWA. Be sure to include Order 2009-0027-DWR in your subject line.

Addresses: -Letters:
Jeannie Townsend
Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Randy Poole
General Manager/ Chief Engineer
Sonoma County Water Agency
PO Box 11628
Santa Rosa, CA 95406

In case you want to include the individual board members as addressees they are:
Charles R. Hoppin, Chair
Francis Spivey-Weber, Vice-Chair
Arthur G. Baggett Jr.
Tam M Doduc

E-mail commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov & randy.poole@scwa.ca.gov
Fax: SB - 916-341-5620 & scwa 707-544-6123
Call Riverkeeper at 433-1958 f