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Still going with the flow on the Russian River
David Narvaez of San Francisco pushes his friend Hugo Gomez through the shallow waters of the Russian River east of Healdsburg on Thursday.
JOHN BURGESS / PDPublished: Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 10:38 p.m.
On Thursday, a sunny afternoon on the Russian River, the splash, splash of paddles dropping into the water echoed from Healdsburg to Guerneville.
Facts
FLOW COULD GO LOWER
So far, the Russian River has been lowered to a rate between 80 and 90 cubic feet per second below Dry Creek near Healdsburg.
The state has given the Sonoma County Water Agency permission to lower the flow as low as 35 cubic feet per second.
For business owners on the river, each stroke brings a sigh of relief. It means passageways are deep enough to host the tourists wanting to spend time and money.
The sounds they hope not to hear are the scrape of the boats on the river bottom and the subsequent splosh of feet landing in the river as boaters push their craft back into the current. That means the river is running too shallow for quality canoeing.
But as Sonoma County faces water shortages and river flows are reduced, more canoeists are finding themselves pushing and pulling their boats down the river rather than paddling them.
“For people in canoes and stuff, I’m sure it’s a pain in the butt,” said Kelly Cox, manager of River Bend Resort outside Guerneville.
The amount of water flowing in the Russian River is regulated by the Sonoma County Water Agency through releases from Coyote Dam at Lake Mendocino and Warm Springs Dam at Lake Sonoma northwest of Healdsburg.
At Lake Mendocino, water levels are being carefully managed to ensure that enough water is left in the lake at the end of the summer and into the fall for human and agricultural use and the preservation of endangered salmon, said Brad Sherwood, a Water Agency spokesman.
Officials intend to release enough water into the Russian River to maintain recreational activities such as boating and swimming, but that depends in large part on the weather and water conservation efforts, Sherwood said.
“It’s a huge balancing act,” he said. “We will do everything we can to keep the flows for recreation. But we can’t say it won’t go lower, ’cause it might.”
That has owners of boat rental companies, and other tourism-dependent river businesses, worried.
“I know in a month there’s going to be almost nothing,” Cox said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
The state Water Resources Control Board gave the Water Agency permission to lower the river flow beginning July 6 to as low as 35 cubic feet per second below Dry Creek near Healdsburg. Such a low flow hasn’t been seen along the river in at least three decades.
So far, that hasn’t been necessary. The river is running between 80 and 90 cubic feet per second.
“Things are looking good right now,” Sherwood said.
That’s due in large part to water conservation efforts. Sonoma County residents and businesses have been asked by the state to cut river water use by 25 percent and the target for Mendocino County residents is 50 percent.
A spike in water use earlier this week, though, drained water storage, Sherwood said. If another heat wave strikes, which often corresponds with less water conservation, it could force Russian River water levels down, he added.
Publicly, most river business owners show a general optimism that water levels will support recreation through the summer. Privately, they express concern.
Lollie Mercer, who runs canoe and kayak trips in the Healdsburg area, said if the river becomes too low, she will have to shift her runs farther downriver, putting her in competition for customers with well-established businesses in the Guerneville area.
Until that happens, and it could very well not happen, Mercer and her staff take to the river on trial runs each morning to determine whether the depth is sufficient for their customers’ use. She also checks the water level daily at the Water Agency’s Web site.
“Yes, you’re going to see a reduced flow, but the water is clean and fresh,” Mercer said. As for pushing and pulling boats out of shallow waters, that’s “part of the adventure,” she said.
Cassie Jackson of Guerneville, who canoed the river Thursday morning for the first time this season, said the water seemed “a little low” but looked clear, which is her biggest concern.
“I pulled the canoe 10 to 15 feet,” she said. “And some spots we dragged a bit. But it’s not unbelievably low and it’s clear.”
You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220 or laura.norton@pressdemocrat.com.
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