Redway Community Services District Moving Into Stage 3 Water Conservation
[Stock image by Nicole-Koehler via Wikimedia Commons]
The Redway Community Services District is moving into Stage 3 Water Conservation which is a Water Shortage Emergency Declaration. The Districts Surface Water Treatment Plant here in Redway normally operates at a 350 gallon per minute treated effluent flow and then stored in our two storage tanks which is needed for fire protection and overall demand. Recently staff has had to drop the treated flow from 350 to 200 gallons per minute. We have had to drop the flow because our infiltration gallery that collect’s water from the South Fork of the Eel River is not recharging as quickly due to the low cubic feet per minute flow in the river. The Water Plant has already hit 18-20 hours of operation daily due to these low flow conditions. This is mandatory water conservation; we are expecting our customers to please conserve.
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A reminder of the phases, copied from the earlier article on this site:
1st phase of drought conservation plan will require all customers to voluntarily reduce water consumption in South Fork of Eel River
2nd phase will be to stop all outdoor watering for everything except animals, vegetables or fruit.
3rd phase will require only using water on even days for even addresses and odd days for odd addresses. specific days, designated by GSD.
Those are the phases from the Garberville Sanitary District not the Redway Community Services District. Their phases may differ. I’m slated to sit down with Cody Cox later this week to dig into these issues more.
Bet there is no drought deniers in Redway..
Great timing to have the announcement on the same day Gville announced they have approved more water use.
You are correct, GSD does not go into phase 1 drought conditions, until the SFER gets down to 10 cfs (cubic feet per second), which is way to late to do anything about it. This is how GSD plans for drought, use till its gone. Currently, the SFER is at 50 cfs at the USGS River station @ Miranda (Sylvandale Bridge Hwy 101).
7.48 gallons per cubic foot of water.
Very good Dan, but its CFS (Cubic feet per second) So 1 CFS = 448.8309375 gallons per minute. And, GSD is not allowed to divert more than 10% of the river flow per day, e.g. CFS. Do the math Dan…
Everyone must cooperate as the drought continues.
I call bullshit on the drought regardless of what Edward says. Those rains in may made a huge difference. The river is in the best shape in years. All the deep holes are nice, very little stagnate water. Algae is just now starting. It’s been way worse for many years. The main river is thriving this year. You can still kayak without having to get out and pull and riffle. River is in good shape.
That’s not true.
I’d bet money the South Fork Eel will dry up at the forks this year again, same as last year, which was a first.
That’s bullshit too. You obviously are not from here. I grew up in the 70’s here and it dry up a few times including below Redway.
Really? That’s also not true.
What was the last time it dried up at the forks before last year? (It hasn’t)
I’ll be waiting.
And if you think you’ve been here longer than me, you’re going to have to be more specific than “the 70’s”, my friend.
And why don’t you be more specific than “below Redway”, or wherever else you are talking about.
Because I don’t ever remember it drying up “below Redway”.
I know that area pretty well.
What you forget about is to add Benbow Dam into the mix during the summer, and in the mid-70’s their was a drought and the SFER got very low, low enough to go subterranean, stop flowing on the surface between Philiipsville and Miranda, which it did So it would not surprise me it happened below Redway, between Raven Cliff and Dean Creek. I grew up there as a kid on the SFER from 1961 to 1975.
Could be. I remember that drought.
But I was talking about the confluence.
Last year was the first year that the South Fork dried up there.
I think it might this year also, but if the Miranda guage said 14.3 last year, and it’s at 48.4 this year, I’m a little less certain about that.
That should provide you with a little reassurance as well.
It’s flowing much better there, than it was at this time last year.
Like 3.3 times better.
That’s a plus.
Its not just about the confluence, its about a dozen other places on the SFER. and just because its 48 cfs now, what will it be in Oct and what if it doesn’t start raining until February, which it has done before too. That’s why GSD should start conserving before it gets to 10 cfs!
I remember that event.
Thebigdeal,
According to the USGS site, the South Fork of the Eel at Miranda was lower yesterday than it was on the same day last year–4.98 ft vs 5.22 ft. I’ve included earlier so you can see. On the 9th of July, the water this year dropped lower than it was last year.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/11476500/?fbclid=IwAR3-OdMo2iwSMh2z6BjceYCi7JTqqu4449IeTW-ymYSsUs_-vrbrGGSUWwc#parameterCode=00065&period=P30D&compare=true
I’ve been “monitoring” the South Fork Eel,@ the confluence with the main stem,
same as last year, every time I go by it, and I’m pretty sure it is lower there now, than it was at this time last year.
It’s also not looking good again, above the South Fork Eel River bridge, at Myers Flat…
Thanks for the documentation.
Pretty concerning, actually…
This link has a really nice way to look at the relative flow of the rivers. https://www.drought.gov/states/california/county/humboldt
I’m in Mendo country, 1/4 mile of the So. Fork runs thru my property, it’s a trickle.Was very low last year also.
This is the first year since 87 when I moved here, that I didn’t hear the rivers rush in the winter from my front door.
I haven’t walked over to look at it, cause a bear has been hanging out down there in the blackberries.
Popped some popcorn last night with the door open and he came by to check that out.
My screen door was closed.
I’ve been wanting to wash the smoke off my walls from all the fires since 2017, I’m still waiting.
That’s a good amount of riverfront.
Sounds like that bear is getting a little to curious, a little too hungry, and a little too close for comfort.
Screen door doesn’t sound too reassuring.
I hope you have a good dog, and/or are ready to regulate, if necessary.
I’m not very good about sharing my popcorn with bears, and that one sounds like it might not have the best manners…?
Stay safe.
Kym, to be fair, I was wondering about “CFS” as compared to “river level in feet of elevation”.
Due to a possibly changing riverbed, it kind of an “apples and oranges” comparison.
Thebigdeal’s observation, for the area of the Miranda USGS gauge, anyway, seems to be perfectly accurate in comparison to last year’s CFS flows…
48.4 CFS this year, vs 14.3 CFS last year…
per a different setting in your link…
A big difference.
And it does seem to be cleaner this year than last year…
My apologies to Thebigdeal, although my assessment was for the area of the confluence with the mainstem Eel, and that has just been watching it from the overpass so far.
I haven’t really been watching at Sylvandales…
CFS would seem to be a better measurement to me, too. I’d like to run those numbers by someone who studies hydrology.
When the river is at flood stage, it’s the surface elevation, or river level, that is of most concern.
When measuring CFS, when the river is at very low flow, the river level, or surface elevation, could vary, at a any comparable volume of flow, due to fluctuating river bed sediment levels.
That would explain the river level being 3 inches lower this year, but flowing at 3 times the volume.
Maybe it’s also, partially, an indication of a significantly reduced cannabis crop, and or habitation, in the South Fork Eel River watershed?
(Above Sylvandales, anyway)…
Sure seems like a lot less people, etc., to me, anyway…
I use a small Rubbermaid tub in the kitchen sink. After washing dishes I pour that dish water into a ten gal pickle bucket with lid. Then I pour that bucket into the tomatoes and other.
Me too except i use a five gallon bucket
Fix your dripping faucets. My uncle worked for a water company and dripping faucets really bothered him. My kitchen sink started dripping. I put a pitcher in the sink to catch the drips. It added up to about 1-1/2 gallons a day.
That’s a very good point, and cumulatively, for all residents, that could really add up…
It would be a shame for a river to be reduced to a trickle, due to widespread dripping faucets or badly leaking infrastructure.
The biggest drippy faucet is pvp, and pge is the responsible party, not the people of Redway. The water district as well as everyone else should be complaining to the board of supervisors for not standing up for the county’s best interest and the state water board should be forced to look at the situation as it really is. Shame on them, not the minimal population of Redway…
Potter Valley Project, does not affect the flow of South Fork of the Eel River.
PVP impounds and diverts, and is located on, the Main Stem Eel River.
The two watersheds do not interact or intersect, until the South Fork Eel River meets the Main Stem Eel River at Dyerville.
Guest, Would please stop trying to confuse the keyboard scientists with facts.
What’s interesting about the eel river water levels is that the amount of inches per year don’t really matter it’s all about when the rain comes. In march it was looking like we were heading for a all time worse. But the may rains changed all that. The south fork has no snow influence. Kim’s point may be true but last year nobody would swim this time of the year but right now the river is really nice
You can see in this graph link from GSD just how much water they leak through out their water system infrastructure. What a waste…
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16FqujTkqsFLGoOqMm0Op1wYJ2qhW_fS0/view?usp=sharing
You also need to remember, GSD has only been in the retail potable water selling business since 2004. They know you need to go through GSD to get permission for any water and sewer needs, GSD is the gate keeper for any development in Garberville and they love to be wined, dined and have their belly rubbed, just ask Ralph Emerson.
Well, I’ve got to agree with you there…
25% of their total usage leaking out should be unacceptable.
That’s the same as 33%, of what gets utilized, being lost.
Asking folks to conserve water, while being responsible for that kind of wasted water, is pretty hypocritical.
Also, limiting development, under such circumstances is nonsense, as well.
I’m sure that there are leaks, that are being metered, that add up substantially with overall usage.
GSD should have some kind of program, that their customers can utilize, in order to address those kinds of issues.
GSD also needs to address it own issues with leaking infrastructure.
GSD has water ordinances, one of them states:
Sec 7.1 Water Waste. No customer shall knowingly permit leaks. Where water is wastefully or negligently used on customer premises seriously affecting the general service, the District may discontinue the service if such conditions are not corrected within five (5) business days after giving the customer written notice.
https://www.garbervillesd.org/files/07ab68d4f/Water+Ordinance+May+19%2C+2019.pdf
Its amazing how hypocritical GSD can be as a public agency. They need to include themselves with this ordinance as the water provider!
I agree.
For clarity, the total loss reports from GSD include not just water lost from leaking tanks or broken pipes, but water theft and breaks given to GSD customers when leaks or theft occurs on the customer’s side of the meter.
Regardless of the cause, minimizing water loss overall should be the goal.
Lisa, By “theft”, do you mean from a fire hydrant? Because if the theft was on the “customers side of the meter”, it would not show as a loss, because it went thru a customer meter. The water loss in GSD’s graph did not show going thru a customers meter, it was lost between the water treatment plant and any of the customers meters. Fire hydrants are not on meters. However, there was this interesting water consumption between the GSD waste treatment plant and Connick Creek subdivision, off the Connick Creek waterline:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Pd-VJv0AVnySR4t-TzkR2sQHB1jT-jD/view?usp=sharing
GSD will not provide any info if the parties involved have stopped using GSD water illegally for cannabis cultivation…
Do you remember when GSD thought there was a water leak off the Connick Creek waterline, I think they found it at that grow site…
The way GSD calculates the water loss, they know how much water they diverted from the river and how much went through the water treatment plant, then they total all the customers meters and the difference is what they call a loss.
My boss at the time told me that in 1964 the South Fork of the Eel River went underground somewhere north of Miranda. I didn’t see it myself, but I believe it to be true.
That winter we had the Christmas Flood of 1964, the second worst recorded flood in California history.
The SF might have more water coming down if you removed the thousands of un-permitted grow “Straws” sucking up the streams and springs in the watershed.
Its not as much what they legally divert from the SFER, its what they divert from all the different creeks and streams they suck dry that feed the SFER, i.e. Sprowl Creek, East Branch SFER, Redwood Creek and many many more…