GUEST OPINION: Gauging ground water

<p><i>We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. </p><p>— Thomas Fuller,<QR></p><p>“Gnomologia</i>”<QR></p><p>The fear of the well going dry is a real one for the thousands of Sonoma County residents who rely on ground water for drinking, farming and business operations.</p><p>After three years of drought — and a winter that is shaping up to be dryer than we hoped — many folks are questioning the health of our aquifers. Specifically, they are wondering whether people are using more water than can be replenished by nature; if the level of water in wells is declining; whether the quality of ground water has changed; and if development patterns and uses have reduced opportunities to replenish aquifers.</p><p>The Sonoma County Water Agency, of which I am a director, has no regulatory control over ground water. But that doesn't mean the agency should ignore these questions. All water is interrelated: How much people conserve and depend on ground water and recycled water to meet their needs will affect how much water they will require the agency to supply — and vice versa. And, without proactive coordinated management at the local level, other areas have seen their ground water managed by outside regulators. For these reasons, several years ago the Water Agency began working closely with the U.S. Geological Survey on a series of ground water studies.</p><p>One of these studies in the Sonoma Valley area identified several problems, including possible salt water intrusion in wells in the southern end of the valley.</p><p>As a result, a Sonoma Valley stakeholder process was developed that includes farmers, residents, businesses, the environmental community, local government and water suppliers.</p><p>Through education and collaboration and guided by a facilitated process, the Sonoma Valley Basin Advisory Panel developed a non-regulatory plan. Projects are now being implemented (including voluntary monitoring of private wells, installation of monitoring wells, rainwater harvesting, enhanced conservation programs and aquifer recharge mapping) to help better understand and alleviate ground water problems.</p><p>Now it's time for a similar plan in the Santa Rosa Plain ground water basin. Ground water beneath the Santa Rosa Plain provides numerous benefits to our community — including residential and city water supplies, irrigation for farms and water to streams.</p><p>The Water Agency, along with Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol, Windsor, Sonoma County and the California American Water Co., have funded and supported a five-year USGS study of the ground water basin that will be complete at the end of 2010. Results from the study will provide stakeholders with tools to assist in evaluating how to best manage the basin.</p><p>The Water Agency also funded a stakeholder assessment that was conducted by the Center for Collaborative Policy (a program of California State University, Sacramento). The center interviewed 55 people representing 37 diverse organizations throughout the Santa Rosa Plain and found the following:</p><p>• Competing interpretations on the value and potential of ground water management planning.</p><p>• A significant lack of technical understanding of the aquifers underneath the Santa Rosa Plain and the extent of interaction between surface water and ground water (with nearly all interviewees agreeing that it is critical to gain a better understanding of local ground water resources).</p><p>• Concerns about efforts that could result in increased regulation and operating costs.</p><p>• High levels of distrust amongst many of the parties, based on a long history of adversarial relationships.</p><p>Next Tuesday, the Sonoma County Water Agency board will receive a briefing on these findings and a proposed work plan for the next steps in exploring a Santa Rosa Plain ground water management process.</p><p>While prospects for collaboratively agreeing on how to best manage local ground water may appear challenging, the Sonoma Valley experience and other processes throughout the state illustrate what can happen when well-intentioned people are educated and engaged in a cooperative effort that relies on scientific information and that maintains local control. </p><p>The Water Agency board must judge whether a similar process will work for the Santa Rosa Plain, but one thing is clear: Something needs to be done. People who depend on ground water for their lives and livelihood don't want to wake up some morning and find that their wells have gone dry because policymakers failed to act.</p><p><i>Shirlee Zane of Santa Rosa is a Sonoma County supervisor and a director of the Sonoma County Water Agency.</i></p>