Drought a top issue in race for 4th District supervisor

California’s prolonged drought has made talk of water shortages into regular kitchen-table fodder on farms and in neighborhoods across Sonoma County, elevating water policy - a wonkish topic in many a prior election - into a top issue in the race for the county’s 4th District supervisor seat.

The winner in the contest between Windsor Councilwoman Deb Fudge and former Obama administration official James Gore is likely to be faced with a host of difficult drought- and water-related decisions that could have major implications for the future of agriculture and the environment in Sonoma County.

The list of issues starts with the looming state-mandated regulation of groundwater use, which could for the first time set rules on when and how much well owners are allowed to pump. The county will need to act starting next year to have an oversight agency in place by 2017, as required under the laws signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last month.

Supervisor Mike McGuire’s successor representing the north county - including world-class wine grape growing regions such as Alexander and Dry Creek valleys - could also play a pivotal role in Board of Supervisors’ decisions affecting Russian River flows, setbacks for development and agriculture along 3,200 miles of waterways and investments in recycled water infrastructure to preserve drinking water supplies.

The deluge of issues has made the drought a galvanizing force for 4th District voters and the two candidates seeking their support.

“The story about how water pervades politics in California is nothing new, but it’s become a game-changer for this race,” said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. “The stakes are quite high.”

Farms and ranches make up a large swath of the land in the 4th District, which extends from northern Santa Rosa to the Mendocino County line, including Larkfield-Wikiup, Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and Cloverdale.

Much of the area is situated along a stretch of the Russian River that relies on flows from Lake Mendocino for surface supplies.

The reservoir, now at just over a quarter its capacity, is at its lowest level for this time of the year since 1958.

Pumping water from underground aquifers offers growers, cities and other rural residents in the region another major source, yet the state’s new laws on groundwater are likely to affect that use.

At the very least, monitoring and management of underground supplies will no longer be voluntary. Profligate users depleting aquifers could be hit with fines.

Both Fudge and Gore support the new laws, saying California - long the only western state with a pump-as-you-please policy - was overdue for such a move.

“Without reliable water supplies, none of the other issues like roads, or jobs or economic vibrancy rise to the top,” said Gore. He has earned endorsements from farming interests, including the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, which strongly opposed the groundwater legislation, saying the action was rushed and represents an economic threat to the agricultural sector.

Gore, who worked at a federal agency that specializes in collaborating with farmers on natural resource projects, insisted he was not beholden to agricultural interests on water policy.

“Sure I have support from business groups and agriculturists,” Gore said. “But I would manage water for everyone, not just one group or the other.”

Fudge, a retired PG&E program manager, has been endorsed by environmental groups who generally favor stronger oversight of water resources, including protections against streamside development.

She has touted her work on water-savings initiatives during her 18 years on the Windsor Town Council and has emphasized the need for even broader, more aggressive efforts to ready the region’s water system for impacts from global warming.

“There’s no question that we have to prepare for long-term climate change,” Fudge said. “I’ve been chomping at the bit to bring my ideas and what we’ve done in Windsor to the county. That’s what I’ll take to the Board of Supervisors.”

Results of a statewide public opinion poll in September ranked water the most important issue for likely voters, with 72 percent saying supply is a “big problem” in their part of the state - outweighing air pollution among a list of other environmental woes for the first time in the survey’s history.

The political context of the drought was underscored with Gov. Brown’s signing of historic groundwater legislation, amid opposition from powerful farming groups who said the legislation unfairly singles out agriculture and threatens private property rights.

The new groundwater laws require every county to ensure use of their groundwater basins is sustainable by 2040, essentially ending the hands-off policy that has long made California an anomaly among water-starved western states.

The shift, spurred by the three-year drought, comes as each of Sonoma County’s nine cities have all approved mandatory water restrictions to help conserve dwindling surface supplies.

“Drought is going to be a big issue this election, and voters are going to want to know where their candidates for local office stand,” said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, the think tank that conducted the public opinion poll. “It’s surprising because we’ve seen water emerge as the top issue in a very short period of time.”

High voter interest in the drought and its implications for water supply in the coming years has been borne out on the campaign trail.

At a candidate forum in northern Santa Rosa in August - one of three organized by Gore during the summer - about 50 people filled a room at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts to voice their concerns. More than half stood up and said they were concerned about how the drought was affecting the county.

“There’s no question water is important to me,” said Jim Berger, a retired dentist. “I wanted to hear what James had to say about it. I want to be an informed voter.”

At separate forum in Healdsburg, others ranked drought a top issue.

“We have to do more to conserve water,” said Healdsburg resident Paul Beseda, who added he is concerned about what lies ahead if the drought continues.

Water worries have been commonly voiced in candidates’ door-to-door visits with constituents.

Fudge said she sees brown lawns and encounters questions from residents about the drought nearly every time she walks precincts. She said she hears concerns about farmers and ranchers making up the bulk of water consumption in the county.

“I tell city and agricultural users that we’re all in this together,” Fudge said. “There should be no pointing of fingers.”

The two candidates agree on enforcing mandatory water cuts to conserve surface water supplies and the need to measure levels in underground aquifers. They appear to differ, however, on their ideas for how the county should approach groundwater regulation and the need for mandatory streamside setbacks prohibiting encroachment of agriculture and development surrounding riparian corridors.

Gore said when developing a local groundwater management plan, which could include efforts to recharge basins with recycled water, everything needs to be on the table.

“My first priority would be to provide an avenue for voluntary compliance, but if that is not getting them to stop over-pumping, then absolutely mandatory restrictions and fines would be part of the equation,” he said. “We have to look at what’s going on underground and take actions accordingly.”

Fudge highlighted Sonoma County’s efforts to measure underground basins, with the development of groundwater studies in both the Sonoma Valley and the Santa Rosa Plain. Both studies have identified overpumping. In Sonoma Valley, two areas are sinking below sea level, allowing for saltwater intrusion. And a newly minted Santa Rosa study found that groundwater pumping is causing an imbalance between water coming in and going out, imperiling ecosystems in the area.

In interviews, Fudge has balked at support for mandatory restrictions on groundwater pumping. “If we get into an extreme situation, we might need to control it,” she said.

Fudge, however, came out in full support of county regulations that shield streams and creeks from development and agriculture.

Gore, on the other hand, said he couldn’t endorse a proposed ordinance spelling out 50 to 200-foot buffer zones along streams outside city boundaries. The controversial zoning changes, slated to come back to the Board of Supervisors this year, would protect sensitive plant and animal habitat on roughly 82,000 acres.

“It’s really important that we be able to farm here, but we also have to protect our natural resources,” Fudge said. “Especially our rivers and creeks.”

Gore said the county should identify other ways to protect streamside habitat.

“I would need more conservation investments to be able to support setbacks,” he said. “It’s shortsighted and lazy to build a regulatory program with rules that just say no.”

Fudge highlighted water-related efforts she helped spearhead in Windsor, including the city’s recent approval of mandatory water cuts. She also pointed to a water conservation program initiated in 2012 called Pay As You Save, which allows Windsor residents to install water saving fixtures such as low-flow toilets and showerheads, as well as replace water-guzzling lawns with drought-resistant plants with no upfront costs.

Financed by the town, residents pay for the upgrades over five to 15 years with a small surcharge on their utility bill. She also touted the development of a 500-home subdivision in Windsor called Vintage Greens, in which the town created incentives for new residents to hook up to a new recycled water system.

“We were the first city in Northern California to install recycled water piping to irrigate front and back yards,” she said. “I’ve been very involved in water and energy conservation for most of my life.”

The environmental groups supporting Fudge say her record in Windsor is one reason they backed her.

“Deb was very conscientious on the council when it came to the vote on Pay As You Save - she was the vote in favor the first time it came up,” said Dennis Rosatti, executive director of Sonoma County Conservation Action. “Her leadership in creation of the Windsor Town Green and her role with the SMART train are also valuable assets.”

Gore has outlined a five-point plan that he says would offer solutions for the county’s water problems. He said the county should recharge diminished groundwater aquifers by expanding the Russian River’s protected floodplains - swaths of land that are allowed to flood, thereby allowing water to seep into the ground. He also backed investments, perhaps using general fund money, for expanding recycled water infrastructure, and easing permitting to allow installation of gray water systems.

Both candidates said they’re in favor of altering the way water is released from Lake Mendocino, to preserve dry-season supplies.

“We need to hold back as much as we can while still having a healthy environment for endangered (fish) species,” Fudge said. “It’s a tricky balance.”

Gore said farmers and ranchers, who use the largest share of the county’s water supply, must take responsibility for conservation efforts, too, in addition to residential users.

That stance, along with Gore’s support for groundwater regulation, seems not to have turned off some of his most powerful backers in the farming sector.

“We spent time interviewing both candidates because we feel supervisors should have a good understanding of agriculture,” said Farm Bureau president Tito Sasaki. “We feel James can understand the agricultural perspective.”

McCuan, the political analyst, said he sees both Fudge and Gore moving toward the middle in their campaigns, including on issues dealing with water, as Election Day approaches. “Neither one wants to be seen as solely in the pocket of business or agriculture,” McCuan said. “At the same time, neither wants such a heavy regulatory approach that restricts business development.”

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.