Alexander Valley Water District: Sonoma LAFCO votes Nov 4 on reviving it

By The Downspout · Posted Nov 3, 2026 · 4 min read

On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, a Sonoma County commission called LAFCO votes on whether to allow a new Alexander Valley Water District. It said no in May. A two-member LAFCO committee now recommends yes, with conditions. This is a proposal. If LAFCO approves, landowners get a mailed chance to protest, then an election.

What the district would be

The Alexander Valley Water District is a proposed new local water agency in northern Sonoma County. It would cover the valley floor of the Alexander Valley along the Russian River. The area starts near Cloverdale and ends about 3 miles east of Healdsburg.

It would be a California Water District. Only landowners can vote for its board. Each voter gets one vote for each dollar's worth of land they own. The Sonoma Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the commission deciding on this proposal, cannot change that rule.

The area sits over two groundwater basins the state calls the Alexander Area and Cloverdale Area subbasins. It leaves out the cities of Cloverdale and Healdsburg, the lands of two tribes (Dry Creek Rancheria and Lytton Rancheria, which asked to be left out), and four existing water providers: Rains Creek Water District, County Service Area 41, Clover Crest Mutual Water Company and West Water Company.

LAFCO's notice of the application lists four planned activities: expand a voluntary Russian River water sharing program, join a new Eel River to Russian River diversion, expand groundwater study and management, and pursue a groundwater recharge program in the valley. The conditions below now limit some of these.

When and where

Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 2 p.m., Board of Supervisors Chambers, 575 Administration Drive, Room 102A, Santa Rosa. It is item 5.1, a public hearing.

What happened

The landowners who proposed the district filed their plan with LAFCO on October 27, 2025. LAFCO voted it down on May 5, 2026. The proponents asked LAFCO to reconsider. On August 5, 2026, LAFCO sent the question to a two-member LAFCO committee, Chair Harvey and Commissioner Rabbitt.

That committee now recommends that LAFCO reverse its denial and approve the district with conditions. The proponents, Sonoma Water, Healdsburg and Cloverdale agreed on the changes. Sonoma Water took part in the talks.

Conditions on who runs the district:

The county Board of Supervisors picks the first five district board members.
At least one must be a household well user on 10 acres or less.
At least one must be a farmworker who lives in the district.
At least three must be registered voters living in the district.
Within six months of forming, the district board must set up an advisory committee. Members include farming, business, environmental and rural well owner interests, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, the county, the two tribes, Sonoma Water, the Sonoma Resource Conservation District and an independent water systems member.
Four years after forming, the board must grow to at least seven members.

Conditions on water:

The district cannot become a groundwater sustainability agency, the agency that acts for a groundwater basin. It could help form a joint agency that does, but only one that includes Sonoma Water, and only if Cloverdale and Healdsburg get a chance to join.
It could run a water rights sharing program only under a signed agreement with Sonoma Water, and only if Cloverdale and Healdsburg get a chance to join.
It cannot run the 10,000 acre-foot water reservation in State Water Board Decision 1610 unless a signed agreement with Sonoma Water allows it.

According to LAFCO staff, LAFCO has no way to fine a district that breaks these conditions. Some would be enforced by the courts. A district can raise money only after it exists. If its money measure fails, the only thing it may do is ask to be dissolved.

What it means for you

Nothing is formed on November 4.

If you own land in the proposed area and LAFCO approves, you would get a protest form in the mail. The notice also goes to voters in the area. If a majority protests, the district does not go forward. If not, landowners in the area vote in a formation election.

If you rely on a household well in the valley, the conditions above are the parts that touch you: the board seat for a household well user and the advisory committee seat for rural well owners.

What happens next

If LAFCO approves, staff will schedule the mailed protest step only after the proponents pay LAFCO's unpaid bills and a $15,000 deposit. By law, the proposal ends on its own if required steps are not finished within one year. The next LAFCO meeting is December 2, 2026, at 2 p.m.

This is a proposal. LAFCO has not decided. Questions can go to LAFCO at 111 Santa Rosa Avenue, Suite 240, Santa Rosa, (707) 565-2577.

Where this came from

The LAFCO agenda and the staff report for item 5.1, both for the November 4, 2026 meeting, and LAFCO's page on the formation proposal. We did not read the attachments, which include the draft resolution, committee letters and public comment, so the exact wording of the conditions may differ. For how groundwater agencies work in the county, see groundwater agencies in Sonoma County.

Sources

Checked 2026-11-03. Rules and programs change. If something here is out of date, the source above wins. Spot an error? See our corrections policy.