Charles Rubin of Petaluma walks past ponds at Shollenberger Park that would normaly be full of water and waterfoul at this time of the year but without rain have become dry and lifeless on Monday evening December 30, 2013.

City urges water conservation

Following similar action taken by the state and county, this week the Petaluma City Council unanimously voted to seek a voluntary 20 percent reduction in water usage to combat continued drought conditions. Residents are asked to stop watering outdoors, cut back on car washes and be diligent about conserving the scarce resource.

"We're here tonight to follow suit," said Public Works Director Dan St. John during Monday's council meeting, explaining that the move will align the city with Gov. Jerry Brown's call to conserve after he announced a statewide drought emergency in January.

The city had already asked residents for a voluntary 15 percent reduction in water use, but upped it to 20 percent to match state and county standards. Last week, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to declare a drought emergency, a move that will better position the county to receive state and federal drought relief funds.

The news was welcomed by farmers and ranchers, who are struggling to keep both crops and livestock healthy during the parched year. Mike Gale, of Chileno Valley Ranch, said while last week's wet weather created a carpet of new grass across his Petaluma pastures, it is not the type of grass that will sustain his hungry beef steers.

"The grass is too young, there's no protein or any real nutritional value in it," Gale said, explaining that grass needs time to soak the nutrients out of the soil, but the cattle are consuming it too quickly for that to happen. "This young grass, it won't help them put on any weight."

After conducting a survey of farmers and ranchers in January, Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Tony Linegar estimated that, so far this year, county farmers have lost $6.2 million worth of crops to the drought, most significantly in fields that produce hay, oats and other grains. Further losses are expected in the county's lucrative winegrape industry, if drought conditions continue.

Last week's splattering of rain was not nearly enough to refill the county's main reservoirs that supply water for 600,000 customers in Sonoma and northern Marin counties. Lake Sonoma has a healthy supply at 70 percent of capacity; but Lake Mendocino is only at 44 percent. The last few showers have made an impact, upping Lake Mendocino's level from a low of 35 percent in January, which caused the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to declare a drought emergency.

St. John said his department is working on a campaign to educate Petaluma residents on ways to conserve. "We're asking people very sternly to not do any irrigation outside," he said.

Currently, all of the reductions are voluntary, but that could change.

"If this drought persists, we'll be back in front of the council asking for mandatory reductions," St. John said.

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