LAKEPORT— The Board of Supervisors Tuesday tackled 24 items in their extensive agenda Tuesday, the board heard updates on 2022 drought conditions for Lake County and heard from drought-related meeting groups, including the Comprehensive Drought Workgroup, the Drought Emergency Operations Center, the Lake County Drought Task Force, and the Tree Mortality Task Force.

"We did have the Tree Mortality Town Hall last Thursday. It was really well attended. We had about 75 people present. I've gotten a lot of great feedback on it. It remains on our Facebook page (after it went live.) If anybody wants to go back and look there, you can also search on our county YouTube channel to watch at it (https://youtu.be/V9Bzn3sIiks). It's just one hour exactly. We had fantastic presenters and great resources for small and large property owners. It was a great event," said District 5 Supervisor, Jessica Pyska.

Deputy Water Resources Director Marina Deligiannis gave an update on the current severe drought conditions for the Lake County community. She said it is the third consecutive year the county will face such conditions with precipitation levels being way below average.

"We received some rain last night, (Monday) but we did not receive as much as we are looking for." (for evaporation.) She added that the department was able to get some funds set aside to do outreach related to water conservation.

"You may have seen posters and billboards and some of our Lake County Transit with outreach and education regarding conserving water. Even when we are not in a drought year, it is still important to conserve water," Deligiannis said. "A lot of our smart water and water purveyors throughout the counties participate in the Lake County Drought Groups, and they are well aware what they're supposed to do. A lot of them are actually ahead of the game in doing what we were supposed to, with the assistance, whether it be from grant funding, and then also just the support from our friends at the state. The counties are supposed to develop a drought task force and water shortage contingency plan."

At the Lake County Water Resources Department, "we also have a groundwater row monitoring interest form. You can go ahead and fill out this form. We will see if it would be possible for us to add your monitoring to our monitoring collection system. All the resources are on our Water Resources website, which you can find at LakeCountyCA.gov. You can come visit us on the third floor of Lake County Courthouse. Give us a call at 707-263-2344 or send us an email at Water.Resources@lakecountyca.gov," said Deligiannis.

In other actions, the board considered the plans and specifications for the Lake County Courthouse Roof Replacement Project and authorized the public services director/assistant purchasing agent to advertise for bids. The project courthouse has been on the books for a couple of years and it is considered "a difficult and necessary task." County staff stated that the complexities are associated with the number of facilities on the roof.