Sonoma County Water Agency E-News | November 2017
Spanish Language Water Supply Public Tour
Tour del Sistema de Suplemento de Agua del Río Russo
La Agencia de Agua del Condado de Sonoma invita al público en general a un tour de medio dia para aprender acerca del Sistema de Suplemento de Agua del Río Ruso. Visitaremos las instalaciones que toman, bombean y tratan el agua potable que es enviada a más de 600,000 personas en secciones de los condados de Sonoma y Marin. Visitaremos la presa de hule inflable, la nueva escalera de peces, los estanques de infiltración, y el pozo colector de agua número 6- uno de los pozos colectores más grandes del mundo.

Los tours serán ofrecidos en las fechas siguientes:
  • Miércoles, Noviembre 22, 2017, 10:00 am -12:00 pm
Registrarse para un Tour del Sistema de Suplemento de Agua: http://www.scwa.ca.gov/espanol/
Water Supply Tour offered in Spanish
The Sonoma County Water Agency invites the public to attend a free half day tour of the Russian River water supply system. Tour participants will visit facilities that divert, pump and treat the water delivered by the Water Agency to more than 600,000 residents in portions of Sonoma and Marin counties. These facilities will include the inflatable dam, the newly constructed fish ladder, infiltration ponds and water collector 6 – one of the largest water collector of its type in the world.

Registration is required. Children must be at least 12 years of age and accompanied by an adult. Your registration will be confirmed via email.
  • Wednesday, November 22, 2017 - 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Register or learn more: http://www.scwa.ca.gov/tours/
Educator Workshop: Climate Literacy and Understanding Global Change
Are you interested in bringing climate literacy into your classroom?

Join us for an inspiring, practical, and relevant workshop on how to effectively incorporate the complex and critically important topic of global change into existing curricula. Receive vetted scientific content, learn how to approach student misconceptions, and acquire new teaching resources and strategies. Learn about project-based learning opportunities where students engage in real-world data collection and think critically about how to mitigate the challenges ahead. Available to all teachers and educators. Click "Register Here" for more information and to register.
Preparing for Winter After the Fire:
What Property Owners Can Do
Rain has come to Sonoma County. After the fires, this rain presents added threat in the form of toxic runoff, increased erosion risk, and more. But there are several ways residents can prepare for the rainy season and ensure there is as little adverse impact as possible. Click "More information" for information and advice on how property owners can respond to the rainy weather in light of the current situation.
New fish species detected in the Russian River Estuary!
Water Agency biologists captured two California halibut ( Paralichthys californicus ) in June 2017, while conducting seining surveys in the Bridgehaven (Highway 1 Bridge) area of the Russian River Estuary. This is the 51 st species detected in the Estuary since surveys began in 2002. The halibut were seined on a gravel bar with lightly brackish water. These flatfish appeared to be aged 1+ juveniles. Adults spawn locally in large bays and nearshore areas, and activity typically peaks in late-summer. This suggests that the juvenile halibut were not spawned in the Estuary, but had dispersed from the ocean to forage in the Estuary.

Click below to read more about the estuary.
Emergency Alerts
Friend or Foe?  The recent wildfires have brought the topic of emergency alerts into the public discussion and you may have some questions. Some government generated alerts cannot be stopped, nor should they if they are sent to protect life and property, but not all of them can be narrowed to target a small geographic location. If you signed up for emergency notifications during the wildfires by texting your zip code to 888777, you may now be getting a bunch of unwanted Nixle notifications and don’t know how to make them stop. The tendency is to stop them all and not take time to learn more and customize your settings.

Ideally, we should all sign up and customize our emergency alert settings BEFORE a disaster to ensure we get the critical information needed based on our personal situation. It will take you a few minutes, but it is well worth your effort. While I can’t answer all your questions, below are some resources to help you learn more and setup your accounts to meet your needs. If you have questions or need help, do not hesitate to ask me. Lori Wyatt, Emergency Preparedness, at 521-6205 or email [email protected] .

SoCoAlert (Code Red) – Local Government only
Local Life and Safety notifications. No advisory messages will be sent.
The default capability by local government is only to landline telephone numbers. You have to sign up and customize your account to allow emergency notifications to be received in a variety of ways:
  • Text, email, voice messages
  • Multiple phone numbers
  • Multiple email accounts
  • Multiple locations (home, work, family, rentals, etc.)

Nixle Alerts - Typically City, County, Fire, Police, and Sheriff (888777)
Local life and safety notifications but also advisory messages, emergency supplies, deadlines for applications, security messages, meetings, etc. It can quickly become more than you wanted. 
  • To Sign up quickly - text your zip code to 888777
  • To Cancel quickly – text STOP to 888777
  • To get a Password – text Password to 888777
  • To Customize your account settings by type of messages, by agency, etc.
  • Login to Nixle online using your cell phone number and password (see #3)
  • Add a Location (home, work, or other), as many locations as you want
  • Use Account Tab to add email, home phone, turn off notices at night or set times.
  • Use Settings Tab to select Agencies

Emergency Alert System (EAS) – a national public warning system, no customizing
 
Be Informed, Emergency Alerts : https://www.ready.gov/alerts
Recovery Information and Resources
As our county recovers from the devastating wildfires that have upended so many lives, countless people and organizations have come together to help. If you were affected by the fires, visit sonomacountyrecovers.org for information about finances, debris removal, housing, rebuilding, and much more, all on one website. Click below to be directed to the website.
Water Storage and Rainfall
Current water supply conditions 
(11/13/2017)

Lake Sonoma: 209,115 acre-feet (85.4% of Target Water Supply Storage Curve)
 
Lake Mendocino: 64,301 acre-feet (117.2% of Target Water Supply Storage Curve)
Current rainfall conditions
(10/1/17 - 11/12/17)

Ukiah:
Average (1894-2017 water years): 3.37”
Current Water Year: 2.19” (64.99% of average)
 
Santa Rosa:
Average (1950-2017 water years): 3.16"
Current Water Year: 2.21” (69.94% of average)
Upcoming Events
  • December 5, 2017
8:30 am
  • December 12, 2017
8:30 am

Public Tours
  • Spanish language water supply tour
November 22, 2017
10:00 am

North Bay Watershed Association Board Meeting
  • December 1, 2017
9:30 am
Employment Opportunities
We invite you to explore the career opportunities available with the Sonoma County Water Agency.

Current opportunities:
  • Water Agency CAD/GIS Coordinator 
Fact of the Month
Steelhead and Chinook salmon are threatened and Coho salmon are endangered in the Russian River Watershed! Water Agency biologists monitor and study these fish and work to enhance their habitat.
This E-News is produced by the Water Agency's Community & Government Affairs Department. We want to hear from you!  Contact us with your questions. 
Sonoma County Water Agency