The winter rains have significantly improved our water storage capacity at Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino. While reservoirs are full, it’s still important to save water. Every drop we save now will be available in the summer when it’s needed for people and wildlife.
General Updates
Visit the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) to view current conditions for Sonoma County. These graphics show the location and intensity of the drought.
On May 19, 2023, the Division of Water Rights issued a Temporary Urgency Change Order that approved the requested changes to the temporary urgency change petitions with various terms and conditions, including fisheries habitat and water quality monitoring. The order will remain in effect through Oct. 15, 2023.
Residents are encouraged to continue using water wisely and eliminate water-wasting activities. Learn more water-saving tips at SavingWaterPartnership.org.
Leveraging better forecasting to increase water storage. A multi-year effort by Sonoma Water, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Scripps’ Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes and other state and federal partners has increased the effective water storage capacity at Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma by managing reservoir levels in the flood pool based on high-resolution weather forecast data and newly developed decision support tools. This innovative program is known as Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO). This year, FIRO was also used at Lake Sonoma and provided an additional 30,000 acre-feet of stored water between the two reservoirs. Learn more about FIRO.
Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) has been successfully applied to improve resiliency and sustainability of water resources in many other areas throughout the world by allowing stored water to be used in summer months or during droughts. Learn more about the Sonoma Water and City of Sonoma ASR pilot project.
Groundwater managementconsists of a variety of programs and projects that aim to sustain and study groundwater resources
Climate Adaptation Plan guides the review of climate risks to water supply, flood control, wastewater systems infrastructure and operations, and it serves as a roadmap for building, assessing, and putting in place adaptation strategies to make the systems more resilient.
Explore various efforts and initiatives in the timeline below by clicking through the photos and text.