My guess is there will be zero impact on Lake Mendocino and downstream users. Our economic survival is at stake. It's as simple as that,'' said Mendocino County Supervisor Michael Delbar. Delbar and people like Potter Valley vineyard owner Janet Pauli fear that too much water loss will curtail the county's burgeoning agricultural industry, especially wine grapes, which are seen as the key to diversifying the economy of the poor rural county. Pauli, chairwoman of Mendocino County's new water agency, worries that Eel River diversions could mean too little water for spring frost protection for vineyards and pear orchards in chilly inland valleys, and in the summer for irrigation.
Pears especially are dependent on adequate irrigation.
An entire local economy, largely based on agriculture, has grown up around the water diversion. Some Mendocino users still believe that practically speaking, they will always be able to divert enough Russian River water to provide for their basic needs, because water released from Coyote Dam into the east fork of the Russian River must traverse the agriculturally rich Ukiah and Sanel valleys before reaching northern Sonoma County. The fact of the matter is that as long as water flows down the river, somebody is going to tap into it, whether they're legally entitled to or not,'' predicted Ukiah pear grower Steve Thomas. And that may be bad news for the Alexander Valley, which could suffer from an unfortunate combination of geography and human nature. Regardless of how good their water rights are, others can take the water before it gets to Alexander Valley, and that's why the Potter Valley reduction will be most dramatically felt in the Alexander Valley area,'' said Sonoma County Supervisor Paul Kelley, who represents the region.