Mendocino County Water Updates
Russian River Frost Regulation:
Fact Sheets, Forms and Links can be found below
Russian River Frost Regulation Update and
Pending February 1st Deadline
The Regulation
On September 20th, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopted the Russian River Frost Regulation and the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the regulation into law on December 29, 2011. You can find it on the State Board website here.
Please review the regulation’s accompanying resolution document for additional clarification on the timeline for compliance with the regulation:
The requirements in this regulation apply to ALL diverters who use water in the Russian River Watershed for frost protection purposes including:
* All pre-1914, permitted, licensed, riparian, and groundwater rights
*All tributaries, the Main Stem and West Fork of the Russian River except for diversions that occur above Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma.
* All wells, no matter how deep or how close to a surface water source, are included for 3 years until an individual well can be shown to not have an impact on surface flow.
* All diversions from the Russian River Flood Control District or any other water district.
* The only exemptions are diverters in Potter Valley and off stream reservoirs filled SOLELY with Redwood Valley Water District Water. Those diverters in Redwood Valley that use District water to supplement on-stream reservoirs or other reservoirs with other appropriated sources of water are NOT exempt!
Litigation Update
There are numerous issues with this new regulation, and several legal challenges have been filed. Unfortunately, the time frame within which the SWRCB is requiring frost water users to submit WDMPs will not allow adequate time between the possible legal injunction and the required WDMP submission deadline. The litigation efforts will continue and the injunction hearings have been set for February 3rd, but the SWRCB will need to receive your initial WDMP by February 1st.
Anyone interested in attending the injunction hearing related to the Dr. Rudy Light litigation case that is being heard in Mendocino County on February 3rd at 9:30 am at the Ukiah Courthouse Department E is welcome. Anyone interested in attending the group litigation injunction hearing being held in Sacramento on February 3rd, please contact the Farm Bureau office.
February 1, 2012 Regulation Compliance Deadline
Starting February 1, 2012 all frost water diverters who fall under the Russian River Frost Water Regulation are required to submit an initial Water Demand Management Program (WDMP) to the SWRCB. A WDMP can be an individual or a group. According to the SWRCB Resolution Document mentioned above (p. 5), the initial WDMP submitted for approval is required to contain:
1) The identity of the governing body, a list of the names of the participating diverters, and, for each participating diverter, the sources of water used and the acreage frost protected.
2) They will also include a schedule for completing the frost inventory, developing and implementing a stream stage-monitoring program, and conducting a risk assessment
In order to help diverters comply with the recently adopted frost protection regulation the Russian River Flood Control District has prepared a WDMP template (see link below). Based on the SWRCB Resolution language for the Initial WDMP requirements, Section (A) thru (E-3) should provide adequate information for the requirements in (1) listed above. If you are applying as an individual you can list yourself as the governing body. If you are submitting WDMP’s for multiple ranches under one ownership, you should also describe if all of the ranches will be under a single WDMP or if each ranch will have an individual WDMP.
The requirements in (2) are very difficult to determine at this point. It is recommended to review the WDMP’s that have been submitted to the SWRCB as well as the responses from the SWRCB (see link below) to assist in fulfilling (2). Please note that (2) only requires a proposed schedule.
An electronic version of the WDMP can be found at the link below:
Previously submitted WDMP’s and the SWRCB responses to the submittals can be viewed at the link below under the WDMP heading and the subheading Mainstem Russian River WDMP’s:
Note that there is also SWRCB gauge information located at the bottom of this page for York Creek and McNab Creek in Mendocino County.
Enforcement
The new regulation makes it very easy for enforcement action, regarding your frost water use in the absence of a WDMP. Not having an approved WDMP
for frost protection diversions “is an unreasonable method of diversion…and shall be subject to enforcement.” The only evidence they need is the absence of a WDMP. According to SWRCB Staff member Jim Kassel at the meeting held last week in Ukiah, the enforcement process for not submitting a WDMP will be considered a violation of Water Code Section 100 and the SWRCB can issue an order of non-compliance with a time frame for becoming compliant.
If the compliance date is not met and the diverter is found to be in violation of the order of non-compliance, then fines can be charged up to $500 for
every day on non-compliance.
All frost water diverters are encouraged to submit the information required in the initial WDMP to the SWRCB by February 1st. You are also
encouraged to speak with your neighbors and organize collaborative groups, especially on the tributaries. This will be beneficial for future WDMP
requirements (if applicable) and for general water diversion as we enter into the 2012 frost season.
For 2012, please remember to keep records of diversion records for each frost event that includes hours of diversion, rate of diversion and volume of water diverted. This information will be useful for both water rights reporting as well as possible future reporting related to the regulation.
Assistance:
General Questions:
The Russian River Flood Control District, Sean White: (707) 462-5278
The California Land Stewardship Institute, Laurel Marcus: (707) 253-1226
The Mendocino County Farm Bureau, Devon Jones: (707) 462-6664
Tributary Organization:
North Coast Resource Management, Estelle Clifton: (707) 485-7211 ext. 214
Ground Water
LACO Associates, Christopher Watt: (707) 462-0222
Where to send WDMPs:
Initial WDMP’s should be submitted to:
For certified mail (signature upon receipt) to:
State Water Resources Control Board
Division of Water Rights
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95812
For general mail:
State Water Resources Control Board
Division of Water Rights
P.O. Box 2000
Sacramento, CA. 95812-2000
