Next Sonoma County Drought Town Hall on Thursday

Almost a third of Sonoma County is now in “extreme drought” after spending most of the spring and summer in the lesser “severe drought” category, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

But it’s raining, which makes it feel as if we’ve returned to a more seasonal weather pattern, so, what gives?

Local residents will have a chance to ask questions at the next virtual Drought Town Hall Thursday. It’s the last in a series of monthly sessions on the drought held by Sonoma County since March.

Thursday’s speakers are Jeanine Jones, drought manager for the California Department of Water Resources, and Julie Kalansky, a climate scientist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and an expert on atmospheric rivers.

The county has worked closely with Scripps’ Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes on the study of atmospheric rivers, moisture laden plumes that provide most of the rainfall on the North Coast. Their appearance in a given season dictates the health of the region’s water supply.

The Sonoma County Water Agency, known as Sonoma Water, also has worked with Scripps on revisions to operations for Lake Mendocino based on forecasting for such storms. The new framework allows water managers to hold off on releasing water from behind Coyote Dam if there are no storms in the forecast, or to release it if there are incoming storms. Plans are in the works to adapt the methods to Lake Sonoma.

Jones will talk about the drought’s impact on California and the state’s response.

The county launched the virtual sessions as the region entered a third year of drought that has left Lake Sonoma at its lowest level in history. Lake Mendocino is also well below normal, holding about 34% of its storage capacity.

Thursday’s 4 p.m. session will be hosted by Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt.

It will be streamed on Zoom and on the County of Sonoma Facebook page. A recording also will be available on Facebook afterward.

A Spanish translation version will be streamed on the County of Sonoma YouTube channel.

Register in advance to pose questions live on Zoom or email questions to publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org.

Earlier town halls can be viewed at socoemergency.org.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.

Editor’s note: Supervisor David Rabbitt is hosting the workshop. An earlier version of this story misidentified the host.