Windsor drilling wells to augment Russian River water

Windsor next month will begin drilling two test wells to augment its municipal water supply.

The Town Council has approved $1.1 million in contracts to drill and monitor the wells in an effort to make Windsor less dependent on Russian River water.

The state-mandated cutback of Russian River supplies over the past summer “highlighted the limitation of the water system,” said Town Manager Matt Mullan, adding that it accelerated Windsor’s search for alternate groundwater sources.

Windsor, like many North Bay cities, has been affected by the state order to reduce pumping from the river to ensure sufficient water for the fall salmon run.

Unlike most of the cities, which have the ability to draw from groundwater wells, Windsor is entirely dependent on Russian River water.

“Right now, we are completely reliant on river wells,” Councilwoman Debora Fudge said Wednesday. “We don’t have another source.”

The test wells will be drilled miles from the river on sites the town owns at Esposti Park and near Bluebird Court, which is on the east side of Highway 101 about three miles from the river.

Mullan cautioned that the quality of the water and how much treatment it may require is not yet known.

One old well the city had near Bluebird no longer meets potable water standards.

“The quality of the water is excellent along the Russian River,” Mullan said, explaining that the gravel strata creates a natural filtration process for the river “underflow” that is the source.

“The farther and farther you move away from the river, the less the quality is,” he said.

Water conservation measures were implemented over the summer in the North Bay as a result of the state’s order in late May for the Sonoma County Water Agency to reduce by 25 percent the amount of water it pumps from the Russian River.

The Water Agency supplies about 600,000 customers in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Cotati, Sonoma Valley, and north Marin County.

Windsor gets some deliveries from the Water Agency aqueduct, primarily to serve an area near the county airport.

While there have been cutbacks of Russian River water diversions over the last several years, it became clear this year that for regulatory purposes, all of Windsor’s water is considered to originate in the river.

“This past summer was the first time the state order also included our Russian River wells, which are tied to the Water Agency’s water rights,“ Mullan said. “Prior to that, they were only concerned about reducing the water taken in and delivered through the aqueduct system.”

Fudge said even though Windsor is trying to develop more wells, it should not be interpreted as reducing the need for water conservation.

“We intend to conserve and create low impact development that uses less water,” she said. “We are just trying to diversify our supply.”

She said the wells have been in the planning stages for a number of years.

But this year, $550,000 — essentially a grant - was approved for the project with federal stimulus money administered by the state, along with another $550,000 low-interest loan from the state.

The intent is to use the new wells when usage peaks in the summer, Fudge said, in combination “with conservation, and not add to water usage.”