Sunday, April 18, 2010

The low-down on Low-Flow

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Low-Flow issues on the Russian River, here are some links:
See, I'm trying to be balanced and provide links to pro-Low Flow as well as no-Low Flow pages. Alas, my Google searches have failed to turn up any other pro-Low Flow sites because Low Flow totally SUCKS.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Low Flow protest deadline pushed up to May 13th

Good news for slackers like me who missed the recent Low Flow protest deadline (April 12th) ... The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has extended the public comment period to MAY 13th 2010. For more information about Low Flow, please read Brenda Adelman's article in the West County Gazette.

For folks with no time to read, here's the long and short of it ... unless you WANT the Russian River to be shallow, algae-clogged, and totally GROSS (like last summer) every single summer for the rest of our lives, regardless of rainfall levels, PLEASE help stop low flow by doing the following:
  1. Download the Low Flow protest form from the West County Gazette
  2. Fill it out (it's really short)
  3. Write a heart-felt letter about summers on the river or how your business depends on tourism, etc.
  4. Make two photocopies, &
  5. Mail the three documents by MAY 10th (to allow for mail delivery time) to the following addresses:

STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD
DIVISION OF WATER RIGHTS
P.O. BOX 2000
SACRAMENTO, CA 95812-2000

Sonoma County Water Agency
C/O Grant Davis, General Manager
P.O. Box 11628, Santa Rosa, CA 95406,

AND ...

Russian River Watershed Protection Committee
P.O. Box 501
Guerneville, CA 95446.

Please note that you MUST mail these things by May 10th because the Water Agencies have NOT joined the 21st century & do NOT provide email addresses or Web forms. Actually, since they also don't provide a FAX number, they haven't even joined the 20th century!