Ukiah water crisis looms

<p>Ukiah’s water supply could be crippled when Russian River water levels begin dropping in coming weeks, city officials say.</p><p>Water flowing from Lake Mendocino into the Russian River can be reduced starting Monday from 75 cubic feet per second to 25 cfs to save water for fall salmon runs. Officials at the Sonoma County Water Agency, which controls the summer releases, said Thursday they would try to delay the reductions as long as possible.</p><p>When the river level drops, the sub-surface flows that supply two of Ukiah’s major wells could all but disappear, according to city officials.</p><p>The wells supply 4.9 million gallons of the 5.2 million gallons the city currently can supply each day.</p><p>The city Thursday asked customers to cut their water use in half in preparation for potentially dramatic declines in the water supply. But they stopped short of mandatory rationing, for now. The city already prohibits washing cars, sidewalks or other hard surfaces in a manner that allows runoff.</p><p>“If everyone will conserve over these next few weeks, we think we probably can get through it,” City Manager Jane Chambers said. The goal is to limit water use to 50 gallons per person per day, she said.</p><p>Meanwhile, Ukiah workers are scrambling to get a new well tested and hooked up to the system next week. Another well is being drilled but isn’t expected to be on line until August.</p><p>Officials had hoped the new well would begin supplying 1.4million gallons a day on Monday, but the well needs to be disinfected and tested for bacteria. On Thursday, a 260-foot gap remained between the well on Gobbi Street and the hydrant that will serve as a temporary inlet to the city water system.</p><p>Later in the week is a better bet, said Alan Jamison, city treatment plant supervisor.</p><p>Even with the new well, residents still face a serious crisis if the underground river flow that feeds the existing water supply dramatically declines.</p><p>Normally, the city’s 15,500 residents use up to 6 million gallons a day in the summer, most of it for irrigation purposes.</p><p>Voluntary conservation efforts have decreased consumption to just over 3.7 million gallons a day, but that’s still more than would be available if the two river-fed wells fail.</p><p>“This is a supply-and-demand issue. We may not have the resources to sell,” Chambers said.</p><p>No one really knows what will happen to the water supply when the river level drops, but it’s not expected to be good. The river will be at its lowest since the wells were drilled and three years of drought already have drawn down the underground aquifers, Chambers said.</p><p>“We’re in conditions we have never encountered before,” Chambers said.</p><p>One unavoidable result will be higher costs for customers.</p><p>The city will need to recoup the cost of the two wells — estimated at about $2 million — along with revenue lost because of water conservation efforts, Chambers said.</p><p>“Water rates will have to go up,” she said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>