65 



R u 



VcUhTJUfeKhDM 



s s i a 



n River 



NOTES 



to get 



involved 



Call Karen Gaffney 



at Orcoit Rider 



Productions, (707) 



8384641, to have 



your name added to 



our mailing list. 



Let us know U you 



wish to be 



interviewed about 



your experiences 



with the Russian 



, River. 



li you wish to 

 receive copies of 

 Hydrology and 

 Gtomorphology of 

 thtttMmvmRhxr.Of 

 other studies 

 prepared as part of 

 ♦he planning process 

 for the Russian 

 River's enhance- 

 ment, call: 



laurel Marcus, 

 (510)286-1015, 



or Karen Gaffney, 

 (707)836-6641 



Study Shows 

 Long-term Changes 

 in the Russian River *•> 



A recently completed study of the river's hydrology and geomophology, 

 prepared for the Russian River Resource EnhancementFlan, looks at 

 changes In the river system over time. By studying river processes we are 

 better able to evaluate future trends in ihe system and to gauge what these trends 

 may mean for all the river's assets— water supply, farming, fish and wildlife, 

 aggregate, and recreation. The Russian River nan is being prepared by a project 

 team m which the California State Coastal Conservancy has Joined with Circuit 

 Rider Productions, Inc., the Mendocino County Water Agency, and consultants. 



By far the best-documented trend in the main stem of the Russian River is 

 channel downcutting. When the sediment supply of the river is out of balance 

 with the flow, water scours and eats away its bed and banks. In Mendocino 

 County the rtver lies directly below Coyote Darr v which impounds water and 

 sediments that moved normally through the river system until 1959, when the 

 dam was built When water is releasedfrom behind the dam it is "hungry": 

 Becaus* sediments have settled above the dam, the water ig clean and has a 

 greater ability to downcut the banks aid chew up the river bottom. There has 

 been a 10 foot drop in the river bed in ihe past 30years. The river scours riparian 

 habitat, drops the level in groundwater weds, and erodes agricultural land. 

 Tributary streams are also affected. As the base elevation of the main river drops, 

 the tributary bed adjusts. The creek bed widens and its banks erode. This large- 

 scale river process directly affects bridge abutments, sewer Unes, creek, banks, 

 and aalmonid habitat 



Bank erosion alms ihe middle reach cf the Russian 1 

 threatens streamsSeptst as the rtoer channel (foumarts. 



