Liz Writes life
Sept. 22, 2021
Some folks in Scott Valley were upset and confused last week, when they received certified letters from the State Water Resources Control Board explaining a curtailment of water use has been put into effect.
It took some reading and a phone call to the water board staff to learn if domestic wells were exempt from curtailment and reporting. The information I received said that they are exempt, but folks that are concerned or confused should contact the water board staff for their own clarification.
There is a difference for domestic wells that are under adjudication. Those property owners must still report estimated water usage and it also must be under two-acre feet of water per year, according to the information I received.
So, according to the letter, most adjudicated water right holders must stop any water use (irrigation) and immediately report that stoppage. Deadline for reporting to the water board is Sept. 24, 2021. Fines for violating this newly implemented Emergency Regulation can be up to $1,000 per day.
Report on-line
Within the eight-page certified letter, readers are informed that “an acre-foot of water is approximately 325,000 gallons and is roughly the amount of water that 2 to 3 households in California use in a year.” So a single residence would likely use less than one acre-feet of water, which is half of the maximum. Whew! There is a website to use to sign-in and do your reporting. This will also put you in an email-type of notification/informational list.
According to the letter, it looks like water needed for residential, livestock and safety for fire firefighting is allowed to be utilized.
Because of the extreme drought, water-flows in creeks and rivers have been extremely low to none and many water right holders stopped diverting early -- or back in May, when the water board curtailed lower-priority-water-right diversions.
Whether non-agricultural folks know it or not, farmers have worked to reduced water usage in a variety of ways – for years.
The scary part
This “Emergency Regulation” was adopted on Aug. 17, 2021, by the water board, which established “drought emergency minimum flows” in the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds. The regulation went into effect on Aug. 30, 2021 and will remain in effect for one year!
Shockingly, this could stop all irrigation next spring in Scott and Shasta Valleys! Yep, this is really upsetting. It would devastate the agricultural community and drastically affect our Siskiyou County economy.
The water board can repeal the Emergency Regulation if water supply conditions improve. If we get good fall rains and a super-winter-supply of snow, the river flows should greatly increase. So, the million dollar question is: Will the water board rescind this curtailment of adjudicated water usage if we receive sufficient moisture?
The letter discusses the minimum
flows that are set for the Scott River. On Sept. 3, 2021 the water flow was
approximately 8 cfs (cubic feet per second) and the drought minimum flow for
September has been established to be 33 cfs. That’s not good! The state board
explains it believes that stopping adjudicated use (irrigation) will raise the
groundwater table, even if it does not immediately increase the water flow in the
river.
In the letter, the water board says it doesn’t have all the groundwater contacts or water right information it needs to let all adjudicated water right users know that they must stop irrigating. (I find that surprising. This is the agency that governs court-ordered adjudications and provides watermasters to oversee water right usage.) So, the water board decided to do this extensive certified letter project in hopes it will reach those diverters not in the water board’s files.
Yet, it still raises alarm bells to many domestic well owners. It feels like domestic wells are being lumped into the jurisdiction of adjudication.
I called our Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor Ray Haupt about this situation. He is frustrated over several legal issues and has put the topic on the Sept. 21, 2021 county supervisors’ agenda. Ray also contacted our State Assemblywoman Megan Dahle and State Senator Brian Dahle’s offices for help. He said the senator is also frustrated about this threat to agriculture and is working on the issue at the state level.
Webinar for help
The state water board staff is planning a webinar to help with reporting. It is called: Curtailment and Reporting Assistance webinar. It will be held Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 from 9 a.m. to noon. The link can be found by putting the webinar title in the search icon on the State Water Resources Control Board website. It may take searching a page or two to find the link, but it clicks right to a notice where you can click on the zoom video meeting link.
There should be much more information to share about this water issue next week. I will try to get on the zoom meeting and see how well people are able to report on-line. Sure hope the computer program works better than the one they had adjudicated water right holders use back around 2011, when I helped a neighbor who did not have a computer to report her water usage.
Garden
The cantaloupes are being tricky. They don’t look or act ripe, but after losing several because they were too mushy, I started picking them. It has been over 120 days since the seeds were planted and the larger melons should be ripe. More tomatoes are turning red. Several times, I have washed the smoke ash off the plants. Boy, it was thick.
Thank you to all firefighters! And
may lots of autumn rains bless our area.
May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and
farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou
County. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call
her at 530-467-3515.
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