Spring is one of our favorite times of year on the river. The trees and vegetation are greening up and the winter floods have re-arranged everything giving it a new look. After 3 years of drought, we’re so thankful the rains returned and our river is flowing well again. We were hit by a record of 31 atmospheric rivers including 12 strong to exceptional ones. Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma are both full for the first time since 2019! Creeks that ran dry from lack and rain and pumping from wells are healthy and flowing again today.
While we’re doing much better now, it’s no time to resume using water as if droughts are a thing of the past. One good reason to be conservative is while we can see our lakes are full again, we know very little about how much groundwater levels have rebounded. As climate and weather professionals have predicted, we have seen more frequent and severe droughts in recent years. After the floods of 2019, high levels of water use coupled with meager winter rains resulted in a sudden drought that hit very hard. As the climate shifts, so will our watershed shift from one extreme of not enough water when we need it to too much at once.
Although we’re in good shape today, if we return to previous higher water use levels, we will put our community and watershed in peril again. In addition to the climate risk of low rain next winter, imports of Eel River water will again be reduced this summer. That is even more incentive to reduce water waste and use water as wisely as possible to stretch the water we have today. The faster we use water, the less we will have next year.
In addition to encouraging continued water conservation, Russian Riverkeeper will be ramping up our Arundo donax/ giant reed removal project to reduce water losses from this thirsty invasive plant. Every acre we’re able to remove with your support will keep millions of gallons of water in the river and reduce upstream reservoir releases for years to come. The Hanson Floodplain Restoration Project will upon completion widen the river by restoring floodplain wetlands that will soak up floodwaters and increase the water we bank underground. RRK is also advocating for more proactive water conservation and improved water management in Sacramento through water policy and legislative updates. We’re not waiting until the next drought hits to prepare; we’re getting ready for it before it arrives.
We can’t control the rain, but we can control how much water we use and how fast we deplete our groundwater and reservoirs. Today we celebrate the respite from the drought and prepare for the future, before the next drought hits, to help our community and the river adapt. We hope you can get out and enjoy the river soon, it’ll be a great summer!