Drought Is Here. Save Water.


The Russian River watershed is entering a third consecutive year of below-average rainfall. As a result, water supply levels at Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma remain at historic lows. Sonoma Water and its partners in the Sonoma Marin Saving Water Partnership (SMSWP) urge our community to keep up the great work and effort – water saved now, is water we can use later. 

We all need to make changes to our everyday habits to eliminate water waste and preserve water supply. Every drop saved helps maintain water flows in the Russian River and extend reservoir storage levels should the current dry period continue.

Lake Sonoma aerial photos, April 20, 2021

General Updates

  1. Sonoma Water hosted a virtual Drought Town Hall on Thursday, March 10, 2022 through a Zoom webinar focused on continued drought conditions in the Russian River watershed. Speakers included representatives from Sonoma Water, California Department of Water Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, Santa Rosa Water, Sonoma County Farm Bureau, and State Water Resources Control Board. View speaker presentations and recording here.
  2. On November 16, 2021, Sonoma Water filed Temporary Urgency Change Petitions (TUCPs) with the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) Division of Water Rights (Division) requesting a change in the hydrologic index used to establish the water supply condition in the Russian River watershed. Sonoma Water's water rights permits require the maintenance of minimum instream flows downstream of Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma.  On December 10, the State Water Resources Control Board issued an order that approved the requested changes of the TUCPs with various terms and conditions. Read more here. 
  3. Sonoma Water, Water Advisory Committee seek 20 percent voluntary conservation. 
  4. Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on April 27, 2021 declared a local drought emergency.  View the agenda item and proclamation.Read the press release. 
  5. Governor Newsom signed a State of Emergency Proclamation for Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Read the proclamation.Read the Governor's press release.  Read Sonoma Water's statement. 
  6. The Russian River watershed is in a historic drought.  The watershed has experienced extremely dry weather conditions this water year (WY-2021). A water year begins of October 1 and ends on September 30th of the following year. This is the second consecutive dry water year coming on the heels of WY-2020, which was also very dry. View drought monitoring data for Santa Rosa and Ukiah.
  7. The current drought on record is 1976/1977 when Ukiah received just 16.12 inches of rainfall. To date, Ukiah has recorded only 14.83 inches of rainfall this year, ahead of 1976/1977 when Ukiah measured 11.27” through April 15.  On average, Ukiah receives 37 inches a year. In Santa Rosa, 21.71 inches of rainfall has fallen this water year. The driest year of record (1976/1977) is when Santa Rosa measured 9.47” through April 15.  On average, Santa Rosa receives 32.20” inches a year.
  8. Reservoir capacities are lower than they were during the last drought, which was 2013/2014. View more data on this drought.  
  9. Residents are encouraged to continue using water wisely and eliminate water wasting activities. Learn more water saving tips at savingwaterpartnership.org.
  10. View more information about the current dry weather conditions.
  11. Read frequently asked questions about the drought. 

What is Sonoma Water doing to prepare for a drought?

  • Sonoma Water on December 23, 2021 was awarded close to $9 million from the California Department of Water Resources to make our water supply system more resilient during this and other droughts.  Specifically, these funds will expand and improve the resiliency of the drinking water supply for over 600,000 people in Sonoma and Marin counties by rehabilitating two currently inactive wells, which will provide approximately 3.7 million gallons of water daily.  The funds will also assist with developing planning efforts in the Russian River watershed to address drought conditions and climate change.  Read more about the funding here. 

  • In early 2020, Sonoma Water saved 11,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mendocino (20% of its water capacity at the time) by implementing a deviation request that allowed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) decision support tools. This was a huge water supply reliability effort and the first of its kind in the nation. The development and implementation of FIRO was a direct result of the last drought we faced in 2013/2014. 
  • In early 2020, due to dry weather conditions, Sonoma Water filed a Temporary Urgency Change Petition to preserve water in Lake Mendocino. This effort is estimated to have saved over 10,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mendocino through the end of 2020. We also implemented a public service announcement campaign alerting our community of the dry weather conditions and the need to use water wisely.
  • In early 2021, Sonoma Water received approval to reduce water releases again from Lake Mendocino through a Temporary Urgency Change Order approved by the State Water Resources Control Board.  Read the press release here. At this point, Sonoma Water is making the minimum release of water from Lake Mendocino; we are currently releasing 25 cubic-feet-per-second at Lake Mendocino.
  • In early 2021, the Sonoma Marin Saving Water Partnership launched an aggressive public outreach campaign to emphasize the need to save water by highlighting actions customers can take to reduce water use and improve water use efficiency. This is in addition to the Partnership’s year-round conservation campaign efforts. The Partnership’s current regional water use of 107 gallons per capital per day (GPCD) represents a 37 percent reduction in water use, well ahead of the State’s required 20 percent reduction in per capita per day water use by 2020.
  • On May 14, 2021, Sonoma Water filed a new Temporary Urgency Change Petition (TUCP) to preserve water in Lake Sonoma.  Read the press release here.
  • May 18, 2021, Sonoma County Board of Supervisors/Sonoma Water Board of Directors approve $400,000 to implement an emergency Santa Rosa Plain well project.  Read this news article.
  • On June 14, 2021, the State Water Resources Control Board approved the above TUCP to preserve water in Lake Sonoma and ordered Sonoma Water and its contractors to reduce Russian River diversions by 20 percent.  Read the press release here.
  • On October 22, 2021 the State Water Resources Control Board issued an amended order that modified Condition 11 of the original order.  Condition 11 limited Sonoma Water cumulative diversions from July 1 through the end of the order (December 10) to 20% below 2020 diversions over the same period. The amended order suspends this requirement while water rights curtailments in the watershed are not in effect whether by suspension or recission. It also requires Sonoma Water customers that are urban water suppliers to implement the appropriate stage of their respective Water Shortage Contingency Plans, consistent with the Governor’s October 19, 2021 emergency drought proclamation.
  • The San Francisco Bay Area Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information (AQPI) System was funded in 2016 by a grant from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Integrated Regional Water Management Program (IRWM) awarded to Sonoma Water and participating Bay Area agencies.


View drought Frequently Asked Questions.

Learn more about current water supply levels.

Drought Town Hall Questions and Answers

Drought Is Here. Save Water.

The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership has launched a public outreach campaign to encourage water conservation in the North Bay. To support this message, we’ve adopted a regional tag line: "Drought Is Here. Save Water." Water is a resource that our community shares, and it is critical that we all protect and conserve this valuable resource.

These are a few of the water-wasting activities that are prohibited year-round in cities in Sonoma and Marin county:

  • Washing sidewalks, walkways, driveways or other hard surfaced areas with a hose. Use a broom instead.
  • Irrigation runoff to streets and storm drains from overwatering or sprinkler-overspray of landscapes.
  • Using a hose without a self-closing shutoff nozzle to wash cars, boats, or trailers.
  • Irrigating outdoors during and within 48 hours following measurable rainfall.
  • Using potable water in decorative water features that do not recirculate the water.

For additional water saving tips and resources, please visit the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership website.

To help raise awareness of water supply conditions, Sonoma Water is unveiling a new water supply graphic (below) that provides a snapshot of the rainfall and water storage for our two main reservoirs, Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino.




How are we doing?

The Sonoma Water Cumulative River Diversions Plot graph below shows cumulative water savings by Sonoma Water customers for 2021 compared to 2020. Since July 1, we’ve reduced diversions from the Russian River by nearly 22%. Please keep up the good work -- every drop we save means more water in our reservoirs for the dry fall!

On October 22, 2021 the State Water Resources Control Board issued an amended order that modified Condition 11 of the original order.  Condition 11 limited Sonoma Water cumulative diversions from July 1 through the end of the order (December 10) to 20% below 2020 diversions over the same period. The amended order suspends this requirement while water rights curtailments in the watershed are not in effect whether by suspension or recission. It also requires Sonoma Water customers that are urban water suppliers to implement the appropriate stage of their respective Water Shortage Contingency Plans, consistent with the Governor’s October 19, 2021 emergency drought proclamation.

Local Water Supply Articles

Sonoma County communities awarded millions in state drought relief funds - Press Democrat - March 21, 2022

Sonoma County Water Agency To Draw From Russian River Weeks Early - CBS SF Bay Area - March 22, 2022

Drought Conditions Force Deployment Of Russian River Dam - KSRO - March 22, 2022

Marin utility pursues study of new water sources - Mercury News - March 20, 2022

Marin Municipal Water District bans new decorative turf - The Mercury News - March 18, 2022

Sonoma Water to host drought town hall - The Press Democrat - March 3, 2022

How can information about atmospheric rivers optimize reservoir operations? - American Society of Civil Engineers - February 24, 2022

Looking for past articles? Visit our Drought Articles Archive page.