Grape growers north of Healdsburg will have to make do without water to irrigate their crops after California officials ordered about 1,500 water rights holders, including grape growers and the cities of Cloverdale and Healdsburg, to stop drawing water from the Russian River watershed. Violators face fines of $1,000 a day or $2,500 for each acre foot diverted.
The order is a drastic attempt to deal with an historic draught. If it stretches into a third dry winter, the region will only have the water captured in two reservoirs available. Officials are trying to ensure Lake Mendocino does not fall below 20,000 acre feet — roughly enough to cover 20,000 football fields with 1 foot of water — before Oct. 1.
Another 310 users in the lower Russian River watershed may receive curtailment orders as early as next Monday (8/9), water board staffers say.