Let's Talk About Our Water Storage.
Image from Sonoma Water Website
All this rain in California, aren’t we a little bit curious about how we store it all(all is a strong word right now, let’s say, some of it)?
For Sonoma County Water Supply (currently Sonoma County is being hit hard with rain and flooding so it’s a good location to specify) I went onto the website https://www.sonomawater.org/water-supply where it talked all about how they store the water and take care of the waterways for the native species and for the people of the county. It dives into where and how they receive the water and the history of it all as well. Great stuff on this website.
The Russian River is the main source to their water reservoir projects. Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma are the two major reservoir projects. They are dual purpose reservoirs, providing flood protection and water storage.
I want to list out what stood out to me. I invite you to explore further into their website because it really is truly fascinating to see how they manage all of this. Here we are, blissfully unaware of how we get our water(rather, not thinking about it at all in some cases) and they’re out there working hard to make sure everyone is provided clean safe drinking water to every home. Which is why when drought hits it’s so important for the residents of the county(and all other counties in California) to preserve this precious resource.
Here are some of the water storage centers focused on the Russian River that stood out to me:
1. Mirabel & Wohler Collectors: Sonoma Water has constructed six collector wells adjacent to the Russian River. Collectors 1 and 2 were constructed in the late 1950’s and are located near the Wohler Bridge. Collectors 3, 4 and 5 were constructed between 1975 and 1985 and are located near Mirabel Park. Construction of Sonoma Water's newest collector well, Collector 6, was completed in the spring of 2006. Groundwater is extracted by each collector well from the alluvial aquifer adjacent to and beneath the Russian River (Please read further to see how they go about storing this water)
2. Mirabel Inflatable Dam: Sonoma Water operates an inflatable dam on the Russian River in the Mirabel area to increase production capacity during peak demand months. Operation of the inflatable dam increases production capacity in two important ways. First, surface water immediately behind the dam can be diverted to a series of infiltration ponds that are constructed adjacent to the three Mirabel collector wells. Fish screening facilities ensure the safety of the fish in the river. Second, infiltration to the underlying aquifer behind the dam is significantly improved by increasing the recharge area from the river. Permanent fish ladders provide fish passage when the dam is raised.
3. Well Field: As a stand-by water source, seven vertical wells were constructed in the late 1990’s near the Mirabel collectors, providing 7 to 10 million gallons per day (mgd) of back up capacity.
4. Water Supply Wells: Santa Rosa Plain Wells: Sonoma Water operates three groundwater wells in the Santa Rosa Plain. These wells pump groundwater from several hundred feet below the ground surface and are capable of providing up to 7 million gallons per day. The wells were originally constructed in 1977 in response to drought conditions. Two of the wells were replaced in the late 1990’s.
I encourage you to find your local water company website and do your own exploring as it can really help you navigate how the city works and give some appreciation to the precious resource we all don’t know very much about.
All the information provided was from the Sonoma Water website. The details listed were copy and pasted directly in order to give the most accurate portrayal of what they do. Here’s the website for further information https://www.sonomawater.org/water-supply