Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it
by Chris McManus
Independent Coast Observer
August 20, 2021
Reprinted by permission
© Copyright Independent Coast Observer, Inc.
www.mendonoma.com
Friends of Gualala River, along with Forest Unlimited in Forestville, on Monday sent a request to state and local officials asking that a regional state of emergency for the Gualala River watershed be proclaimed.
In a letter to State Sen. Mike McGuire, Assembly member J im Woods, Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams and officials at Cal Fire, the Water Resources Control Board and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the groups ask that all timber harvest plan water drafting and all other nonessential water diversions be halted until healthy flows resume.
On Tuesday, the Water Resources Control Board a pproved emergency curtailment regulations for the Scott and Shasta Rivers, two tributaries of the Klamath River.
On Aug. 3, the Water Resources Control Board approved an emergency resolution empowering regulators to halt diversions from the state’s two largest river systems, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin. The order could apply to roughly 86% of landowners who have legal rights to divert water from those two watersheds. The remaining 14% could be impacted if things get worse.
That rule won’t take effect for another two weeks and it includes exceptions for some uses, such as water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, sanitation and generating electricity. Without the order, officials warned much of the state’s drinking water supply would be at risk if the drought continues into next year.
That vote came one day after regulators halted water diversions from another Northern California river system, the Upper Russian River, warning Lake Mendocino would be empty by the end of the year, “putting both people and wildlife in harm’s way.”
The board’s actions are possible because Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration earlier this year giving them permission. The emergency declaration now covers 50 of California’s 58 counties, including Mendocino and Sonoma.
In their letter, FoGR and Forest Unlimited said, “The exceptional drought conditions in Sonoma and Mendocino counties have stressed the Gualala River and its watershed to the brink of demise, prompting Friends of Gualala River to call on the State Water Resources Control Board to take emergency action to save it from complete collapse. The river and estuary are collapsing from unsustainable practices during this unprecedented drought which has placed the counties in the Exceptional Drought (D4) category.”
The groups went on to describe that on Sunday, Aug. 15, the USGS flow gauge reported flow on the South Fork near The Sea Ranch, began to be below 0.2 cubic feet per second. The previous minimum for this date was over twice that level at 0.47 cfs.
Local resident Craig Bell, who is the past chair of the Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission, a Garcia River watershed planner and past president of the Salrnonid Restoration Federation, said he had not seen such conditions before. “We are in uncharted waters, as I have not seen this happen in the 40 years I have been here,” he wrote. “Scary stuff.”
None of the recipients of the FoGR & Forest Unlimited letter responded to the ICO for comment by press time Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
For more information, see our letter: FoGR urges Regional State of Emergency for the Gualala River watershed
