Water Issues Update

Hello all-
I hope you are getting rest now that things have cooled down. We are burnt! HA HA! Well I figured I would give an update on the water replacement situation from CDF during the restoration phase of the fire. I have been in contact with Mike Maynard who has done an incredible job. He explained the water replacement protocol to me. I have a hard time relaying things sometimes but heres what I understood:
- People who had water taken from their ponds were able to get it replaced last week. Since there was such a negative reaction from neighbors about the water being placed on the roads they have stopped doing that phase, at least on the Radical Ridge and Fetzer end.
-If people want their water replaced and it has not been thus far, then there is a process you have to go through with CDF. It requires a lot of paperwork and a CDF employee to come to your place and assess the "damage". This will have to be done at a later date. Mike has those 8 or 9 peoples info and they will be in contact with us then.
-They are supposed to replace whatever water they use for fire suppression and restoration according to Tracy Budrow. Usually that is done from the nearest water source ie: Emrys' pond in our case.They are not able to get us water for replacement from Redwood Valley water district apparently.
-They had pumped water from the creek which led to concern from some folks. Mike said they do this all the time. (Since they are a state agency I guess they can?) Meca- it was a Greg Simpson Co. water truck pumping from the creek, I did not get the license/truck no. He said it seems like people would feel better knowing that water was pumped out to place on the road, which in turn leads to compacting of the road and helps the dust stay out of the creek later during the first rains, which would create a lot of silt and would impact the fish worse then.

I hope this brings clarification to those who were concerned. It is hard to see your only water source be sucked away for road restoration. But I am glad that CDF and Mike were so understanding and helped our community so immensely. It was great to see a Greenfield kid working this fire so hard and with so much understanding of our ways and concerns. I hope he gets some rest soon! Chiah