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Russian River Estuary Management Project Community Meeting in Jenner

The Sonoma County Water Agency (Water Agency) will hold its annual meeting on

Thursday, May 31, 2018

to update the community on the Russian River Estuary Management Project. The meeting will be held at the Jenner Community Center,10398 Highway 1, Jenner, from 6-7:30 p.m.

The meeting will consist of a presentation on the Russian River Estuary Management Project, which will include information about the 2017 Lagoon Management Season, updates on biological and water quality monitoring programs, the pinniped monitoring program, and a preview of the 2018 Lagoon Management Season. There will be a question and answer session following the presentations.

The Biological Opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service in September 2008 required the Water Agency to change the way the Russian River estuary is managed in the summer. The purpose of the Estuary Management Project is to enhance summer habitat for young steelhead while minimizing flood risk in the estuary. The May 31 meeting is the 10th community meeting discussing the estuary since the Biological Opinion was issued.

Since the mid-1990s, the Water Agency has artificially breached the sandbar when it closes and increasing water levels in the estuary threaten low-lying properties. The Biological Opinion calls for managing the estuary as a summer lagoon with an outlet channel in place to enhance conditions for steelhead to grow and thrive, giving them a better chance to survive ocean conditions, while continuing to minimize flood risk.

For more information about the Russian River Estuary Management Project visit www.sonomacountywater.org/russian-river-estuary/ or contact Barry Dugan, at 547-1930 or barry.dugan@scwa.ca.gov.

Estuary Community Meeting Fact Sheet

About the Russian River Estuary

The Russian River Estuary closes throughout the year as a result of a sandbar forming at the mouth of the Russian River. The sandbar usually closes during the spring, summer, and fall when river flows are relatively low and long period waves transport sand landward, rebuilding the beach that was removed by winter waves and river outflows. Closures result in ponding of the Russian River behind the sandbar and water level increases in the Estuary. Natural breaching events occur when estuary water surface levels exceed the sandbar height and overtop the sandbar, scouring an outlet channel. Public agencies have been involved in breaching the sandbar since at least the 1960s. The Sonoma County Water Agency became responsible for breaching activities in 1994. The Sonoma County Water Agency mechanically breaches the sandbar to alleviate potential flooding of low-lying shoreline properties near the town of Jenner. The Water Agency holds permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service, California State Parks and Recreation, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Department of Fish and Game, California State Lands Commission, and the California Coastal Commission for the breaching activities. Beginning in Summer 2010, the Water Agency began implementing a new way of breaching the estuary, described below. See the 2018 Outlet Channel Management Plan for more details.

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