Wednesday February 26, 2025
The Mendocino Voice —
The Mendocino County Water Agency (MCWA) held its second public workshop on drought resilience planning in Fort Bragg on February 21st.
The workshops are part of the County’s response to SB 522, signed into law in September 2021, requiring each county to prepare a drought resistance plan (DRP) for state small water systems and domestic well owners. At the first workshop, in September of 2024, consultants working on the plan pointed out that Mendocino County is rated one of the counties most at risk for drought impacts in the entire state.
Dr. Laura Garza, a University of California water and climate change advisor and part of the county’s Drought and Water Storage Task Force, began the workshop by pointing out that droughts are normal, recurrent climate features that have been exacerbated and accelerated by climate change. During the 2020-2022 drought, Mendocino was one of the first counties declared to be in a drought emergency.
The draft DRP, scheduled to be completed in late March, will contain data and vulnerability assessments, drought preparation strategies, and a plan for implementing them.