Sonoma Water holds an October 28 webinar on lowering Russian River minimum flows

By The Downspout · Posted Oct 25, 2026 · 3 min read

Sonoma Water will hold a public webinar on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. It asks the State Water Board to label water years by Lake Mendocino storage and to lower required summer river flows in Normal years. This is a proposal, and the pages we read show no decision.

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What this is

The Russian River has a minimum amount of water that must keep flowing. The State Water Board sets it. Sonoma Water, the county agency that controls releases from Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma, has asked the board for two short-term changes to that rule. This is a proposal. The pages we read show no decision.

The two changes:

How a year is labeled Normal, Dry or Critical. The label sets how much water must stay in the river.
A lower summer minimum flow in Normal years.

The state calls the request a temporary urgency change petition. If the board approves, its order lets Sonoma Water change its permit terms for up to 180 days. For more on these changes, see our earlier post on the petition.

What happened

Sonoma Water posted a public webinar on the petition. It is Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Board of Directors member Lynda Hopkins and two Sonoma Water staff leaders, Jessica Martini-Lamb and Donald Seymour, are listed as speakers.

Sonoma Water's question and answer list says:

The rules now in place come from a state order approved in May 2026. That order ends November 15, 2026.
Sonoma Water asks for a new 180-day order, from November 16, 2026 through May 14, 2027. The State Water Board notice says the label change would start November 16, or when the order is issued, if later.
The label would come from how much water is stored in Lake Mendocino. Until now it came from Lake Pillsbury, which is on the Eel River, a different river.
In Normal years the minimum flow would drop. Upper river, from the East Fork to Dry Creek: from 185 to 125 cubic feet per second. Lower river, from Dry Creek to the ocean: from 125 to 70. Cubic feet per second is a measure of how fast water moves past a point.
These are minimums. Actual river flows may be higher.

The lower-flow dates differ between two documents. The State Water Board notice says the lower flows would start May 1, 2027 and last until the order ends, about mid-May 2027. Sonoma Water's petition page lists May 1 to October 15, 2027.

Sonoma Water says both changes continue earlier approvals. It says it has filed petitions using the Lake Mendocino labels twice a year since 2023, and the state approved each earlier one.

Why Sonoma Water says it wants the lower flows

Sonoma Water says federal fish biologists found that high summer flows can hurt young coho salmon and steelhead, two fish that live in the river. It says slower water is better for young fish.

It also says lower minimums keep more cold water in Lake Mendocino. It says that helps keep the river cooler in summer and leaves water for fish migrating later in the year.

Lake Mendocino now

Lake Mendocino storage sets the new label, so its level matters here. Sonoma Water data for October 9 to 15, 2026 show the lake held 54,249 acre-feet on October 15. An acre-foot is the water it takes to cover one acre a foot deep. The lake was dropping by about 337 acre-feet a day over those seven days. We found no source comparing that to a normal October.

What it means for you

To hear Sonoma Water explain it, join the webinar on October 28. Register through the link on its petition page.
The State Water Board notice set a deadline of 4:30 p.m. on October 19, 2026 for objections. It said the board could decide before the deadline ends and would consider objections it received.
The pages we read say nothing about water bills or watering rules. For your tap, ask your water utility. See where Sonoma County tap water comes from and how the Russian River system works.

What happens next

The State Water Board has to approve or deny the petition. As of October 25, the pages we read show no decision.

The current order ends November 15. Sonoma Water's petition page is where it posts updates.

Where this came from

Sonoma Water's petition page with the webinar notice and question list, checked October 25, 2026. The State Water Board notice dated September 17, 2026. Sonoma Water's weekly river and lake report for October 9 to 15, 2026.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-25. Rules and programs change. If something here is out of date, the source above wins. Spot an error? See our corrections policy.