Sonoma County flooded with water complaints
The state Water Resources Control Board has rained a record number of complaints down on residents of Sonoma County over failure to comply with an order requesting information on their well use.
The board sent 1,881 notices of violation, which could lead to fines of $2,500 apiece, to residents along four tributaries of the Russian River who had been asked last summer to provide the board with information on well use. That’s about 20% of the residents who had been asked to report, according to the board.
The emergency order stirred up controversy among the rural residents who complained that vineyards that have proliferated along the same tributaries were not required to report water use or cut back irrigation.
The informational orders were part of emergency drought restrictions aimed at boosting the survival of juvenile salmon that hatch in the mountain creeks, then migrate to the sea via the Russian River.
The water boards later issued similar orders to agricultural properties, but did not require them to cut back on water use -- although some did so voluntarily.
Residents have been given the option of complying with the informational order within 20 days, in exchange for a waiver of the $2,500 fine, according to the notices.
Agency spokesman Tim Moran said he could not recall another case in which so many violations were sent in connection with failure to comply with an agency order. “I’m not sure we ever get that many that don’t comply,” Moran said.
Sebastopol resident Ernie Carpenter, a former county supervisor, said he was not surprised at the non-compliance rate. He was required to report, but could not provide all of the information, he said.
“They’ve got big holes in their system,” said Carpenter. “You had to itemize everything you did on your property and then choose from three computer programs to have them average the water use on our property.”
Like him, many residents gave up before completing the forms, Carpenter said. “The whole program was very confusing to people, and I heard from a lot of them.”
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