Arrival of major storm prompts officials to deflate Russian River rubber dam

In anticipation of the major storm that hit the Bay Area on Sunday, a rubber dam in the Russian River near Forestville was deflated this weekend to prevent damage to the dam from high river flows, authorities said.

Sonoma Water, Sonoma County’s water agency, deflates the rubber dam when Russian River flow forecasts show the river reaching 2,000 cubic feet per second, the agency said. The atmospheric river that arrived in the Bay Area on Sunday was expected to raise river flows above 19,000 cubic feet per second.