From the State Water Resources Control Board:
On April 11, 2025, Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) filed temporary urgency change petitions (TUCPs) with the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), Division of Water Rights (Division) requesting approval of temporary changes to water right Permits 12947A, 12949, 12950, and 16596 (Applications 12919A, 15736, 15737, and 19351) pursuant to California Water Code
section 1435.
The petitions seek authorization to implement minimum instream flow requirements for the Russian River that will be established using an alternate hydrologic index based on water storage in Lake Mendocino, rather than the current hydrologic index based on cumulative inflow into Lake Pillsbury from May 1 through October 27, 2025, and to temporarily reduce the minimum instream flow requirements specified under the subject permits due to constraints previously placed on Sonoma Water pursuant to the September 24, 2008, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Biological Opinion for Water Supply, Flood Control Operations, and Channel Maintenance conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sonoma Water, and the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District in the Russian River watershed (Biological Opinion).
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