Execution by Sonoma Co. Water Agency, Mendocino Co. Water Agency, Redwood Valley Co. Water District and the County of Mendocino of Memorandum of Understanding

Execution by Sonoma Co. Water Agency, Mendocino Co. Water Agency, Redwood Valley Co. Water District and the County of Mendocino of Memorandum of Understanding

The project consists of the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (Contract) between Sonoma County Water Agency, Redwood Valley County Water District, the County of Mendocino and the Mendocino County Water Agency, providing for availability of water from the water rights and particular storage rights of the Sonoma County Water Agency to the extent that water may be available during surplus conditions to Sonoma County Water Agency's needs, and subject to the limitations contained within the water rights of the Sonoma County Water Agency permitting the service to the Redwood Valley County Water District. The amount of water available under the Contract is limited to 3,000 acre-feet, and lesser amounts under drought-type conditions. The water service amount is further limited by the provisions of Decision 1610 which restrict water availability to Redwood from Sonoma County Water Agency's right based on reservoir storage and inflow to Lake Mendocino. An overriding principle of the Contract is that Redwood would reduce its water use under the Sonoma Contract by at least the amount percentage-wise that Sonoma's contractors and citizens reduce their water use. The Agreement may be terminated by 30 days prior written notice, and will have an initial term of five years. As a term of the Agreement, Redwood agrees to pay an amount equivalent to the per-acre foot amount paid by landowners within the boundaries of Sonoma through their tax rate and water service charges for the Warm Springs Dam Project. That charge is currently estimated at $42.25 per AF. The amount of water taken from Sonoma will only be after satisfaction of the amounts of water available from the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District (MCRRID) to Redwood which is charged at a lesser rate. Conditions of the Contract include, in addition to the general reductions in pumping of water based upon the hydrologic conditions, to maintain the moratorium adopted by the Superior Court in 1989 upon new connections for domestic water service to the District's system, and to maintain the moratorium on new connections to Redwood Valley's agricultural water system as specified in Redwood Valley's Resolution No. 2-01, including limitation on the rate of delivery of agricultural water to existing customers. Redwood is required to notify the County in regard to any new building or construction project within its boundaries as to the conditions of the moratorium, and the County will take such conditions into effect in determining whether to condition or grant the permit. The Contract further requires adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding for urban water conservation and the Memorandum of Understanding regarding efficient water management practices by agricultural water supplies in California. No change in the practices of Redwood will arise from adhering to the terms of these Memorandums of Understanding. The proceeds of the payments will be administered by an advisory board consisting of Mendocino County, Mendocino County Water Agency, and the funds collected, if any, will be used for cost-effective water conservation projects, use of recycled water to replace other water supplies, and measures to enhance the population or habitat of anadromous fish.

Mendocino, Sonoma