Peter Martin, deputy director of water resources, told the Board of Public Utilities on Oct. 2 that regional storage levels going into the new water year provide carryover supply, while a grant-funded aquifer storage and recovery test at the Martha Way test well has started a multi-month field regime.

Martin said Lake Pillsbury held about 28,000 acre-feet, Lake Mendocino about 67,800 acre-feet and Lake Sonoma about 229,000 acre-feet as of the meeting date. He noted that a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission variance and operations at Lake Pillsbury affected diversions and that storage levels are being managed under existing reservoir operation rules.

“At this time of year you can see the storage allowable storage levels in the reservoir diminish until November,” Martin said, describing how Lake Mendocino’s allowable storage pool changes with forecasted operations. Martin said the region is entering the water year with significant carryover storage compared with recent years.

Martin described a grant-funded project with the Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency at the Martha Way test well: teams performed deployment and began a 36‑hour test-pumping cycle this week, followed by alternating injection and recovery phases that will continue through November and into early December. The test includes transducer monitoring of nearby wells and an injected discharge to the Southeast Greenway; Martin said the contractor was pumping roughly 200 gallons per minute during an early cycle and that outreach to adjacent residents included flyers and signage with QR codes.

“Substantial measures have been taken to reduce noise factors associated with the generator,” Martin said, adding that staff had not received complaints after initial outreach. He said staff will return to the board with results early next year.

Reclamation superintendent Andrew Romero updated the board on recycled-water storage and deliveries. Romero said the city currently had “a little less than 400,000,000 gallons in storage,” which is above typical for the time of year; the department increased flows to Calpine to reduce storage before the wet season. Romero said the city expects to deliver about 110–115% of the contract amount to Calpine and that urban deliveries to Roanoke Park and the city’s own urban users were functioning near average through August: Roanoke Park is contractually allowed up to 450,000,000 gallons and had used about 245,000,000 through Aug. 31; Santa Rosa’s urban users had used about 15,000,000 through the same date.

Board member Mullen asked about joint-use opportunities and regional cooperation to expand reuse infrastructure; staff said they are open to proposals and have had high-level conversations with Windsor and Sonoma Water but that most near-term focus remains on existing contractual obligations and on potential potable-reuse projects in the long term.

The presentations were informational. Staff emphasized continued coordination with the Groundwater Sustainability Agency, ongoing monitoring of storage and contractual deliveries, and a planned return to the board with project results in early 2026.