Lisa Cuellar, the city's water efficiency coordinator, briefed the board on surface storage and regional coordination. She said Lake Pillsbury held about 29,000 acre-feet, Lake Mendocino about 53,000 acre-feet (roughly 67% of allowable storage for this time of year) and Lake Sonoma about 221,000 acre-feet (about 87%), reflecting higher-than-normal carryover from the prior water year.

Cuellar noted PG&E is operating under a FERC-issued variance that reduces diversions to the Upper Russian River to critically low flow rates until Lake Pillsbury exceeds 36,000 acre-feet. She said Sonoma Water submitted a petition to the State Water Resources Control Board seeking to align in-stream flow requirements with Lake Mendocino storage levels rather than Eel River inflows.

On conservation policy, Cuellar said a ban on irrigating nonfunctional turf at commercial, industrial and institutional properties and HOA common areas is now law and that implementation will be staged between Jan. 1, 2027 and 2031. "A lot of people ask, well, what is nonfunctional turf? It's strictly ornamental lawn," she said, and staff will roll out customer education early next year; city-owned properties with nonfunctional turf must comply by Jan. 1, 2027. The city will present code updates and details to the water conservation subcommittee next year.

Andrew Romero, reclamation superintendent, gave a recycled-water snapshot: storage near 305,000,000 gallons (slightly below average), with staff considering reduced Geysers deliveries until wetter weather arrives. He said the city currently pumps about 18,000,000 gallons per day to Calpine to manage storage, and staff still expect to deliver up to 117% of the Geysers contract (the contract requires 90%). Romero noted routine collaboration with the town of Windsor and Sonoma Water to transfer and utilize unused storage capacity where possible.

Board members asked about regional coordination and whether the referenced state regulation (referred to in the meeting as AB 1522/related regulation) is funded. Cuellar said "it's not a funded mandate," that the State Water Resources Control Board is the enforcement authority, and that the city will inform affected accounts and use rebate programs to help with landscape transformation costs. Staff said they would work through the water conservation subcommittee and city code updates in the coming year.