Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it
August 16, 2021
To: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Charlton Bonham
Director
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
From: Friends of Gualala River
PO Box 1543
Gualala, CA 95445
info@gualalariver.org
and: Forest Unlimited
P.O. Box 506
Forestville, CA 95426
info@forestunlimited.org
Re: FoGR requests the following actions be taken immediately: 1) proclaim a Regional State of Emergency for the Gualala River watershed; 2) rescind all timber harvest plan (THP) water drafting approvals, halt all current THP water drafting activities and all nonessential water diversions, until healthy flows resume; and 3) enlist all appropriate state resource agencies to apply all resources needed to mitigate the exceptional drought conditions of the Gualala River and its watershed.
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.
On August 15, 2021 the USGS flow gauge reported flow on the drought-stricken South Fork Gualala River, near Sea Ranch, began to dip consistently below an alarming 0.2 cubic feet per second for the first time this year. The previous minimum for this date was over twice this – 0.47 csf. The mean daily flow is 3.2 cfs based on 15 years of records. The gauge on the North Fork Gualala River was 1.43 cfs and dropping. The mean daily flow is 6.3 cfs.
Local resident Craig Bell recently reported the following observation. “I drove up the Gualala to the North Fork. It is subsurface before reaching the main stem. It looks like the main stem will go subsurface above the Highway One bridge. We are in uncharted waters as I have not seen this happen in the forty years I have been here. Scary stuff.” Mr. Bell is the Past Chair Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission, Garcia River Watershed Planner and Past President Salmonid Restoration Federation.
Local scientist Dr. Peter Baye stated, “The normally aquatic bed of the lagoon below Highway 1 was mostly drained and exposed by the end of July. The last shallow aquatic habitat around Mill Bend is concentrating native aquatic plants and algae that normally shelter endangered juvenile steelhead and stickleback, stranding them in dense mats.” The drought-induced problems exacerbate the impaired condition of the Gualala River, which is listed as impaired under the EPA’s Clean Water Act 303(d) due to sediment and temperature, creating grave conditions for the Gualala River’s CCC Coho and steelhead trout.
Many area residents are served by two water companies, North Gualala Water Company (NGWC) and The Sea Ranch Water Company, which rely on healthy river flow conditions. Additionally, private wells support many residents, farmers, ranchers and some businesses throughout the Gualala River watershed. Many area wells are reportedly struggling and some running dry.
NGWC has wells near the North Fork Gualala River. It serves residents and businesses in Gualala, Anchor Bay and surrounding communities. NGWC has been under a state imposed Mandatory Water Conservation Program since 2014. A moratorium on new water hook-ups has been in place since 2009.
The Sea Ranch (TSR) has wells located near the South Fork Gualala River that service its community. The Sea Ranch Water Company reported to its association members in June 2021 that its water usage is the highest it has ever been. TSR resident and visitor stays have increased due to the pandemic driving water consumption up by 7.8 million gallons from 2019 and 2020. In April, its water production switched from its wells to its water treatment plant.
The extreme drought is also having a negative impact on the local business economy. Many people visit Gualala and surrounding communities to enjoy the Gualala River. A section of the California Coastal Trail overlooks the river’s estuary. The County of Sonoma Regional Park, its campground and Redwood Coast Land Conservancy’s Mill Bend Preserve all border the estuary and main stem of the river. Local businesses rely heavily on revenues from tourism, especially in the summer and fall. FoGR is aware of one seasonal business whose revenues are down dramatically this year due directly to the poor river conditions caused by the drought.
While the local water crisis unfolds, it is timber harvest season and timber operators are permitted to extract tens of thousands of gallons of water a day next to watercourses throughout the Gualala River watershed for dust abatement. Some of the water withdrawal areas are near NGWC and TSR water company’s wells. There are numerous timber harvest plans, in various stages of planning or execution within the watershed, that have been approved by all state resource agencies. The approvals are based on assurances by timber company consultants that pumping up to 25,000 gallons a day (3350 cubic feet) in itself would have “no effect on downstream flow” based on analysis from pre-drought 2010 conditions. These permitted uses are arranged at the time that the THPs are approved and may be years in advance of actual logging when flows may be very low, as is currently the case. No cumulative impacts of multiple water withdrawals are ever calculated. We are in an exceptional drought and still there is no cumulative impact analysis of water drafting in the logging plans, adjusted for the unprecedented drought conditions that were not previously known or expected by CDFW or the State and Regional Water Boards.
FoGR is requesting that all THP water drafting permits be rescinded and all water drafting be halted due to the unprecedented low flows and obsolete hydrologic conditions on which the permits were based and approved.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent request,
Charles Ivor, President, Friends of Gualala River
Cc: Senator Mike McGuire
Assemblymember Jim Woods
California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
California State Water Resources Control Board
California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins
Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams
For more information, see: Local environmental groups ask for emergency protections for Gualala River; halt to water drafting
