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Securing Our Infrastructure, Hazard Mitigation a Priority

It was appropriate that September was national disaster preparedness month because locally the Water Agency was faced with a first of its kind potable water leak off of our Santa Rosa water supply pipeline.  Work also began on a major seismic hazard mitigation project on the very same pipeline – the Santa Rosa aqueduct.  As you will read in this edition of ENews, the water leak was caused by aging infrastructure and posed no threat to our water supply service thanks to the quick response from our team of professional staff.  Our water supply system is over 50 years old and that means we must remain diligent and committed to ensuring maintenance projects remain high on our priority list.  I would also like to extend our appreciation to the City of Santa Rosa and their public utilities staff that helped coordinate the swift and efficient response. 


I encourage you learn more about our hazard mitigation projects online at www.sonomacountywater.org/secureourwater.  Thank you for reading our ENews and please feel free to send us your ideas on how we can better communicate Water Agency news and information by e-mailing our Public Affairs Department at publicaffairs@scwa.ca.gov.


Sincerely,
Grant Davis
General Manager
 

Aging Infrastructure Leads to Failed Flange, Potable Water Leak

On September 10, Sonoma County Water Agency work crews, in cooperation with the City of Santa Rosa, stopped a potable water supply leak off of the Santa Rosa aqueduct in West Santa Rosa near the intersection of West 9th Street and Ripley/Cleveland Avenue.   The cause of the leak was an aging 50-year old failed flange that connects a turnout pipe from the main Santa Rosa aqueduct pipeline.  The Santa Rosa aqueduct is one of three major water supply pipelines that deliver naturally filtered Russian River water to more than 600,000 residents in portions of Sonoma and Marin counties.  A turnout is a smaller pipe that feeds off of the main aqueduct to deliver water into the City of Santa Rosa’s drinking water distribution system.


The Water Agency worked in cooperation with the City of Santa Rosa to stop the leak and ensured high quality drinking water service continued without interruption.  Portions of our water supply infrastructure are more than 50 years old and subject to increasing rates of failure.  While the Water Agency is proactively working to upgrade, replace and improve this infrastructure, leaks such as the one we just experienced may occur without notice.  Learn more about the leak and how the Water Agency is working to secure our future by investing our water resources. 

 

New Isolation Valve Added to Santa Rosa Aqueduct

For ten hours on September 19 a main water supply pipeline that provides water to the cities of Santa Rosa and Sonoma, and the Valley of the Moon Water District – also known as the Santa Rosa aqueduct – was temporarily shut down. The brief shutdown was necessary to replace a failing 36-inch isolation valve in the Santa Rosa aqueduct and to prepare for a $3.2 million partially federally funded hazard mitigation project to upgrade the aqueduct where it crosses the Rodgers Creek fault. Despite the shutdown, residents were still able to enjoy their morning hot shower or glass of tap water thanks to a coordinated plan to ensure no service disruptions. The Water Agency continues to upgrade and replace aging, old infrastructure within its water supply and sanitation systems.  To learn more, visit www.sonomacountywater.org/secureourwater.

 

Statewide Mussel Prevention Funding Program Signed by Governor Brown

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on September 23 signed into law Water Agency supported AB 2443 by Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) – Vessels: registration fee: Quagga and Zebra Mussel Infestation Prevention Program.  The Water Agency supports the Governor signing the bill into law because it will provide much needed statewide funding (approximately $5 to $9 million) to help fight the spread of the invasive species by adding a maximum of no more than $10 to an annual fresh water vessel registration fee paid by the vessel owner to the Department of Boating and Waterways.  Existing law requires the owner of a vessel, or boat, to register the vessel with the Department of Boating and Waterways (department), in accordance with existing requirements. Fresh water vessels are the most common vector for the spread of the invasive mussels.  Mussels spread by hitchhiking on boats that have launched in infested waterways and then re-launch in non-infested waterways.  Mussels attach themselves to all parts of a boat and trailer.  For more information about the bill and prevention efforts currently underway, please visit www.dontmoveamussel.com.
 

Board of Directors Approve Strategic Plan

Every five years the Sonoma County Water Agency’s strategic plan is updated, reviewed and approved by its Board of Directors.  This year, the Board approved an updated plan that incorporated the ideas and strategies from more than a third of its staff thanks to a new strategic plan process implemented in 2011.  Under this new planning format, Water Agency staff was given the unique opportunity to brainstorm, build and now help implement the plan.  The approved strategic priorities identified key initiatives related to water supply, sustainability, sanitation, flood control and organizational effectiveness and staff identified thirteen proposed strategic goals for the Water Agency. 


The Board will hold two future workshops to allow staff to provide more detailed information on the goals and strategies included in the strategic plan, and to allow for Board input.  Learn more about the strategic plan and future workshops at www.sonomacountywater.org/strategicplan.
 

New Water Year Begins October 1

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) marks a new water year by reminding Californians of the importance of making water conservation a way of life. Water Year 2012-13 officially begins October 1, 2012 and runs through September 30, 2013. Water Year 2011-12 now goes down on record as the first “dry” year since the 2007-09 drought. But, early weather forecasts for this winter are split and suggest that this year’s weather is anyone’s guess. Conservation is the consistent, year-to-year message in drought-prone California, where wet winters often are followed by dry periods that draw down storage reservoirs. 


In Sonoma County, we enter this water year in normal water supply conditions. Below are the current water supply storage capacities for the reservoirs within the Russian River water supply system:

Lake Sonoma:  88 percent of water supply capacity

Lake Mendocino:  62 percent of water supply capacity

Lake Pillsbury (Owned and operated by PG&E):  37 percent

View current reservoir levels online.

Learn how to save water in your home and outdoors.

First Russian River Chinook of 2012 Season Makes Video Debut

An underwater fish monitoring video camera located near a fish ladder in the Russian River recorded the first 2012 Chinook salmon on September 5. The pioneering fish is the first of thousands that are expected to enter the Russian River watershed this season in a year that shows promise for larger than normal returns. Chinook salmon are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act, which means a species that are likely to become extinct throughout all or a large portion of their range. The Water Agency has been actively working to restore and create habitat for the Chinook salmon for more than a decade.  Weekly Chinook counts will be updated online.
 

Water, Wine and Fish

Construction is progressing rapidly at the Quivira Vineyards and Winery segment of the Dry Creek Habitat Enhancement demonstration project. The Quivira component of this one-mile project includes (1) creation of a 250-foot long backwater channel, (2) placement of approximately 15 large wood structures composed of nearly 130 large logs, root wads and 560 tons of boulders and (3) removal of invasive plants and replanting with native species.
 

These changes were called for in National Marine Fisheries’ Russian River Biological Opinion to provide much needed winter habitat for young endangered coho salmon and steelhead in Dry Creek. The remainder of the demonstration project will be constructed in 2013. In total, the Biological Opinion requires the Water Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create six miles of habitat by 2022. This work can’t be done without the cooperation of landowners like Quivira – a winery known for its commitment to environmental stewardship. Thank you Quivira!
 

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