In the Midst of a Historic Statewide Drought, Humboldt Has Too Much Water

◼ It’s sort of embarrassing, this situation: Here we are in a state suffering historic drought, and Humboldt County has more water than it knows what to do with. - Ryan Burns/Lost Coast Outpost

Last week, Governor Jerry Brown stood in a brown Sierra Nevada meadow — one that’s typically buried under five feet of snow this time of year — and announced the state’s first mandatory water restrictions. Cities and towns across California will have to reduce their water use by 25 percent after the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) implements Brown’s order, probably sometime in May.

Those regulations, implemented by local authorities, will most likely include the cities and towns here in Humboldt County, even though the county’s primary supplier, the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, has too much water on its hands.

“We do have a surplus of water because of the pulp mills not being in existence,” said John Friedenbach, the district’s business manager. Twenty years ago there were two thirsty pulp mills on the Samoa peninsula, consuming roughly 50 million gallons of water every day as they converted wood chips to pulp. But no more.

Regardless, the district will maintain rights to that water until at least 2029. If, at that point, the region can’t demonstrate a continuing beneficial use for those tens of millions of daily gallons then the state could take those rights back. That’s a long-term problem (slash opportunity), and the district’s board has been exploring various options. KEEP READING