Sonoma County's main reservoir, Lake Sonoma

There's enough water for Santa Rosa to continue growing.

The city council Tuesday approved a report crucial to approving the city's general plan---a lengthy document guiding future development.

The council is required under state law to show that planned growth won't outstrip water supplies through 2050.

The official assessment called for obtaining more considerably water from the county's main supplier---Sonoma Water---and upping what the city draws from aquifers, along with increasing use of recycled water for irrigation, reserving some drinking water.

Sonoma Water recommended the council approve the report.

Concerns over future shortages were allayed by Colin Close, Senior Resources Planner with the City of Santa Rosa Water Department, who said the report bases assumptions on the 1976-1977 drought, among the worst locally in recorded history.

"The 76-77 rainfall year I believe we only had about five inches of rain, so that's a very specific scenario where we would absolutely anticipate that we would have shortages. Dry five-year period could be something like we experienced recently where there was still water in Lake Sonoma but it was getting lower and lower, and so of course we had water conservation measures in place," Close said.

Close told the council that any shortages could be made good through concerted conservation efforts in the community.