Last week’s surprisingly generous storm and several smaller rain systems expected this week are allowing water managers, ranchers and farmers around the region to breathe a sigh of relief.
Abundant rainfall has raised creeks and rivers, filled some storage ponds and provided flexibility to shift to greater reliance on surface water for a spell, reducing the pressure to lean so heavily on groundwater wells in some places.
It also filled smaller storage ponds and has started a new greening of the landscape in pastures that had been grazed down to cracked earth long ago.
“We’re all just in awe,” said Healdsburg dairyman John Bucher. “It’s almost like you can watch it grow. It’s just crazy.”
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