5th Annual Workshop on Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations for Lake Mendocino

31 July – 2 August, Scripps Seaside Forum, La Jolla, CA

Over 70 experts from multiple disciplines and organizations came together for the fifth annual FIRO workshop, which was held at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), UC San Diego from 31 July-2 August 2018. This workshop was hosted jointly by Sonoma Water and CW3E. Opening remarks were provided by Mike Norman, Director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center and Grant Davis, General Manager of Sonoma Water. It was organized by the FIRO Steering Committee, co-chaired by CW3E’s Marty Ralph and Sonoma Water’s Jay Jasperse. There were representatives from organizations including the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), California Department of Water Resources (CA DWR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Geological Survey (USGS), Desert Research Institute, US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), Sonoma Water, Orange County Water District (OCWD), Yuba County Water Agency, UC Davis and CW3E.

During the workshop, participants shared recent updates on FIRO activities including progress towards a major deviation request at Lake Mendocino, a new decision support system (DSS) for the Russian River, research results and applications to the Lake Mendocino FIRO Final Viability Assessment, as well as enhanced monitoring and modeling efforts. A key topic was establishment of a FIRO effort on Prado Dam in southern California in a very populated basin, which builds on lessons from Mendocino and is identifying specific challenges unique to Prado. The meeting began with a roadmap of the Final Viability Assessment. Throughout the meeting there was a focus on the transferability of FIRO. The meeting concluded with highlights of important scientific advancements to advance FIRO and a discussion about how to apply the lessons learned at Lake Mendocino to other watersheds in California and beyond. A poster session was held to share some recent research findings relevant to FIRO. In short, the goals of year-3 of the 5-year FIRO Workplan are on track to be met, including work supporting the Final Viability Assessment.

Lake Mendocino FIRO is summarized at cw3e.ucsd.edu/firo/.

Contacts: F. Martin Ralph (CW3E Director; mralph@ucsd.edu) and J. Jasperse (Sonoma Water Chief Engineer; Jay.Jasperse@scwa.ca.gov)

Group photo of FIRO Workshop attendees.