Enviro Updates – An environmental newsfeed for Sonoma County

Court rules Sonoma County must study impact of water wells on fish, Russian River

August 6, 2026

Bob Egelko, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Tuesday’s ruling said Sonoma County had not properly considered the effects of new rules it issued for increased pumping from the Russian River.

In a challenge by environmental groups to the pumping of groundwater from rivers to fill wells for farmers, homes and businesses in Sonoma County, a state appeals court says counties must consider the impact of their water wells on fish and the environment.

Tuesday’s ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Sonoma County had not properly considered the effects of new rules it issued in 2023 for increased pumping from the Russian River and other waterways, but might be able to meet legal standards with an environmental review.

On the central legal issue in the case, however, the court rejected the county’s argument that such reviews of water wells are required only for the state, and not for local governments.

“Sonoma’s regulation of well permits carries with it an ‘affirmative duty to take the public trust into account,’” Justice Tara Desautels wrote in the 3-0 ruling, quoting language from another appellate decision.

Water, WildlifeCalifornia Coastkeeper Alliance, endangered species, groundwater, Russian River, Russian Riverkeeper, salmon, well monitoring, well ordinance, wells

Saving the Gravenstein

August 6, 2026

Natalie Hanson, PRESS DEMOCRAT

County has lost more than 90% of its Gravenstein acreage

On Sunday, Aug. 2, longtime apple producer Dave Hale and his daughter walked their orchards, picking apples from 20 trees. They filled only eight 40-pound boxes, where once a single tree could fill up to seven boxes.

The next day, Hale’s Apple Farm announced the season for selling Gravenstein apples directly to people who come to the farm for their boxes was over.

Hale’s Gravenstein harvest is only 3% of the annual average this year, he told The Press Democrat. He will shut down operations and make juice with the remaining apples on the 16-acre farm before reopening in early September.

“We just don’t have the fruit to work with,” Hale said. “It’s really bleak.”

Amid ongoing financial struggles for the apple industry, Hale and other local growers are pessimistic about the future of the Gravenstein variety, which once helped define Sonoma County’s identity.

Agriculture/Food Systemfood growing, Gravenstein apples

Powerful El Niño puts California in the bull’s-eye for soaking winter

August 5, 2026

Anthony Edwards, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

One of the world’s top climate models puts a bull’s-eye on the California coast as El Niño strengthens, with a greater than 90% chance of above-normal precipitation from December through February. There’s at least a 70% chance of well-above-normal precipitation.

That outlook is from the European Center for Medium-Range Forecasts, which on Wednesday released its first full supercomputer forecast that includes 51 model simulations of winter.

The California coast could receive 40% to 70% more precipitation than normal from December through February, according to the model. That would put San Francisco at more than 20 inches of rain in that time, which historically happens about once every five years.

Climate Change & EnergyEl Niño, flooding, marine heat wave, rainfall, weather forecasts

North Bay’s new coordinated transit service is up and running

July 29, 2026

Natalie Hanson, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Since April, nine transit agencies unveiled schedule adjustments under the three-year Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service (MASCOTS) pilot, intended to align route times and improve transfers and service with SMART and Highway 101. The agencies say it’s a first step to make it easier to travel, as they gather data to improve their own service areas and regional connectivity for more than half a million monthly riders.

Transportationbuses, Golden Gate Transit, MASCOTS, public transit, Santa Rosa City Bus, SMART, Sonoma County Transit

FERC rejects water district’s bid to stop removal of Eel River dams

July 28, 2026

Phil Barber, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency with ultimate authority over the fate of two Lake and Mendocino county dams that have become embroiled in escalating controversy, dealt a blow Monday to one of the newer — and more distant — players to enter the fray, denying a bid by a Southern California water agency to intervene in the process.

“Movants for late intervention are required to ‘show good cause why the time limitation should be waived,’” FERC Secretary Debbie-Anne A. Reese wrote to Riverside County-based Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District. “Here, the District failed to demonstrate that good cause exists … because it did not provide any explanation for the untimeliness of its motion.”

The Lost Coast Outpost first reported the decision, the latest turn in a growing saga that has drawn in the Trump administration as chief antagonist of utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’ plans to decommission and remove its two Eel River dams, which it contends are outdated and inefficient.

Elsinore Valley had filed its motion to intervene July 9, more than seven months past FERC’s deadline for such motions.

Water, Wildlifedams, Eel River, Potter Valley Project, salmon habitat, water supply

Action Alert: Keep Eel River dam removal on track

July 23, 2026

California Trout

The Eel River dams are in the process of being decommissioned. This is a huge milestone, but it’s not the finish line, and public engagement has been the driving force behind every step of this restoration. Today, we need your voice again.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has opened a scoping comment period as part of its environmental review of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project, which includes Scott and Cape Horn dams. PG&E, the project’s owner, has proposed removing both dams. The aging project hasn’t generated power since 2021, yet the dams still block salmon and steelhead from reaching hundreds of miles of historic habitat. Removing them will reconnect the Eel River watershed for the first time in over a century — restoring one of California’s most important salmon and steelhead rivers. Public comments help shape this process, and your comments (which take less than 10 minutes to complete) are essential to making dam removal and a free-flowing, vibrant Eel River a reality.

Here’s how you can help:

Water, Wildlifedams, Eel River, endangered species, FERC, Potter Valley Project, salmon habitat, steelhead

Could idle wells at The Geysers be a clean power solution?

July 13, 2026

Jeff Quackenbush, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

A new generation of geothermal technology has proven itself in field testing in Northern California, where a state-funded demonstration at The Geysers suggests old and underperforming wells could become a faster, lower-impact path to more clean electricity.

A California Energy Commission report published in April found that GreenFire Energy’s advanced geothermal system, tested in a well at the Socrates plant, also known as Unit 18, could help unlock more than 200 megawatts (200,000 kilowatts) of potential additional electricity production in idle geothermal wells across California, enough to power over 200,000 homes. The test used a closed-loop, pipe-in-pipe heat exchanger rather than the conventional method of pulling steam or hot water from the reservoir.

The demonstration matters because California has struggled to expand geothermal power even as the state increasingly needs clean electricity that runs around the clock. Solar and wind have grown rapidly, but geothermal can generate during winter storms, at night and during multi-day periods when batteries are depleted.

“We’re working to build the renewable energy resources that will keep the lights on through the winter when solar and wind are not producing and batteries are empty,” said Geof Syphers, CEO of Sonoma Clean Power. “Geothermal is one of those key resources.”

Climate Change & Energyclosed-loop geothermal, GeoZone, Geysers geothermal field, renewable energy, Sonoma Clean Power