Water Needed
And not just in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties. I was reading in the Sacramento Bee the other day that the low snowpack levels around the state have the state's dams thirsting for water. I don't recall them mentioning Humboldt in that article. I assume we're doing better than most since we've already received above average rainfall, although not as much rain as we received last year at this point.
Nonetheless, most of the rest of the state, including Mendocino and Sonoma counties, are already talking mandatory water conservation. It looks like Redwood Valley, in Mendocino, is going to declare a water emergency as a result of being told its share of water from Lake Mendocino will be cut in half.
This really sucks, which has me wondering just how well Humboldt is doing. I couldn't find any information on Ruth Lake levels in the short time that I spent looking. But I did find this page that has all kinds of info on river levels around the state. Hard to make my way through all that info.
I was wondering how the Eel River is doing? Doesn't look like there's a whole lot of water flowing in it, yet it seems to be normal flow for this time of year according to the river forecast map.
I know they cut diversions from the Eel to Lake Mendocino earlier on, or at least they were talking about it. I was wondering, since we have this storm coming in this weekend into next week, if we get enough rain, maybe we could divert a little bit more water to Lake Mendocino to help out those folks?
I'm not saying making it a permanent thing, just when we have an excess from a storm or some such. Sound like a plan or am I way off base with this? Is that easier said than done?
Either way, unless we start having wetter years down south, it looks like extreme water conservation measures in Mendocino, Sonoma and other counties around the state are here to stay.
Then, of course, there's the other side of the picture like in down in Orange County. They finally get some rain to help with the fire danger and now they're facing landslide and flash flood problems. They can't seem to win for losing lately.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:17 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Ruth lake area is not doing well. More wells, even reliable ones, have dried up than in the past. At least that is the word up there.
It comes and it goes. Even the book Humboldt Homegrown touches on this issue way back when.
Efforts to divert less water from the Eel have been underway for years. Diverting more water does not seem like an option.
The Eel River is low at Ferndbridge. A couple of weeks ago and when we had some rain, a truck tried to cross part of the river, but sank. A sheriff's deputy controlled the bridge traffic, as we were crossing over to Ferndale. On our way, someone had hauled the truck out.
Yes, I know they've been trying to divert less water from the Eel for some time. I'm just saying, if we get a whole bunch of rain that swells the river, maybe we could divert some of that to Lake Mendocino while the river is up. But, like Carol said, doesn't seem there's much water in the Eel despite the rain.
I read a great book once, Cadillac Desert. Despite the green and moist climate we tend to have in the Pacific Northwest, this area is still prone to the occasional drought. People from more thirsty areas eye the rivers, and somehow think that they are always full. False hope my friends, especially if it is dry winter.
-boy
Fred.. Did you just come up with that high water diversion idea or have you actually been reading about Mendo Supervisor John Pinches' idea to divert Eel River water at Dos Rios during high winter flows. Give Nadananda a call at Friends of the Eel in Garberville. She'll fill you in.
I hadn't heard about Pinches' idea. I just thought about it after reading, time after time, about further restrictions on water down south. I realized they're trying to restore flows to the Eel, but figured it wouldn't hurt to divert water during the winter when there might be almost too much water in the river at times.
Well they can borrow some of the water that I'm getting right now.
The storm filled up the Eel. It looks a lot better all brown and muddy.
Yes. I can vouch for the veracity of Carol's account. But it's not bank-to-bank by any means.
Post a Comment
<< Home