This paper describes a model rationing plan designed for ten cities and districts distributing water to an
urban population of 505,700 located in the northern California counties of Sonoma and Marin. Water is
supplied by the Sonoma County Water Agency via an aqueduct system connected to the Russian River,
which is in part regulated by US Army Corps of Engineer reservoirs. The plan consists of three potential
stages:
Stage 1, a voluntary lead-in stage calling for an immediate interim-step reduction in demand and
prohibiting certain water uses;
Stage 2, a mandatory community cooperation (honor system) stage; and,
Stage 3, a mandatory allotment stage to be deployed in the event voluntary compliance with rationing
goals is not achieved in Stage 2.
The plan puts into practice important lessons learned from the droughts that have plagued California off
and on since the mid-1970's. Supporting the model plan and also described in the paper are two EXCEL
spreadsheet models, one that calculates the overall rationing goals and allotments and one that calculates
revenue loss that will occur assuming successful implementation of the plan.
Includes 4 references, tables, figures.