HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-13 Emergency Services Act- Reduction in Water Releases from Lake MendocinoRESOLUTION NO. 2009-13
WHEREAS,
1. Lake Mendocino and the East and Main forks of the Russian River are currently
the primary sources of water for domestic water systems and agricultural operations in inland
Mendocino County; and
2. Average rainfall through March for the area contributing run-off to Lake
Mendocino is 42 inches and the rainfall total through March 2009 is 23 inches; and
3. This is the third year in a row with rainfall substantially below average; and
4. Average rainfall for April - June is 4.8 inches; and
5. Even average rainfall for the remainder of the rainy season cannot compensate for
the extremely low rainfall this year; and
6. Lake Mendocino held 52,621 acre feet on March 22, 2009, with a Lake level of
727.63 feet; and
7. The average Lake storage in April is 84,448 acre feet, the Lake storage in April
2007 was 66,617 acre feet and the average Lake storage in October is 55,854 acre feet, more
water at the end of the dry summer season than is currently stored in the Lake; and
8. The historically low water storage level in Lake Mendocino this year is part of a
statewide water shortage caused by inadequate rainfall which has prompted Governor
Schwarzenegger to declare a statewide emergency under the Emergency Services Act due to
these drought conditions; and
9. The State Water Resources Control Board ("S)VRCB") has declared 2009 a
normal water year for Lake Mendocino. As a result of this declaration the Sonoma County
Water Agency ("SWA") will be required to increase in-stream flows in the Russian River from
85 cubic feet per second to 125 cfs in the lower Russian River, and from 75 cfs to 150 cfs in the
upper Russian River; and
10. If these increased in-stream flows are maintained throughout the summer, Lake
Mendocino will go dry before the fall Chinook salmon run and before the next rainy season with
devastating impacts on domestic and agricultural water users and endangered species; and
11. The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors is empowered under these conditions
to declare a local emergency under the Emergency Services Act; and
12. A local emergency is defined as the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of
disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the territorial limits of the
County caused by such conditions as drought which are or are likely to be beyond the control of
the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of individual local governments within the
County and which require the combined forces of other political subdivisions to combat; and
13. The historically low rainfall and water storage in Lake Mendocino qualifies as a local
emergency under the statutory definition; and
14. In periods of local emergency, political subdivisions and state agencies have full
power to provide mutual aid despite restrictions which might otherwise limit that mutual aid, and
may allow the extraordinary costs of mutual aid to constitute a legal charge against the state;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT SOLVED that the City Council of the City of Ukiah hereby
requests the Board of Supervisors of Mendocino County:
1. To declare a local emergency due to drought under the Emergency Service Act;
2. To work with other local governments in the County, including the incorporated cities
and county water districts, for an immediate reduction in the minimum in-stream flow
requirements in the Russian River below Lake Mendocino to preserve as much water as possible
for use during the dry summer months and for the fall return of Chinook Salmon to the Russian
River, and
3. To coordinate mutual aid efforts between and among political subdivisions in the
County and state agencies, including the SWRCB.
PASSED AND ADOPTED on March 26, 2009, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Landis, Thomas, Crane, and Mayor Baldwin
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: Councilmember Rodin
ATTEST:
Lintia-C. Bro n ity erk
/*FBaldwin, Mayor
2