|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
It’s been a rainy start to 2016 for Bay Area residents, but local and state water officials are urging residents to continue conserving water through the El Nino-fueled winter season.
Cities in Santa Clara continued to save water in November at a rate well above that required by the state. The city of Mountain View, in particular, surged ahead of nearly every other city in the county, with a water savings of 37 percent over November 2013. Year to date, that amounts to just over 1 billion gallons of water when saved compared to the 2013 baseline, according to city data.
The savings also amount to more than double the state-imposed 16 percent reduction in water use required by the State Water Resources Control Board.
The significant rainfall through December and into January has been good news for the regional water supply, according to Garth Hall, deputy operating office for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. At the Dec. 22 water district board meeting, Hall said cities like San Jose had experienced 3.9 inches of rainfall, which brought it up to 92 percent of average rainfall for the year to date. Snowpack levels are also recovering from the dismal 2015 season.
“What’s more important for us is the supply to the northern Sierra,” Hall said. “That precipitation is running at about 15.6 inches, which has picked up quite nicely in the month of December.”
But water district officials cautioned that one year of good rainfall is not likely to wash away the effects of four years of drought conditions. At best, groundwater levels in the South Bay will be able to reach the “alert” stage, which is below normal level but better than it’s been, according to Marty Grimes, a spokesman for the water district.
“We did a good job this year reducing water usage,” Grimes said. “That said, we’re starting out this year with less water than we did at the beginning of 2015. The hole has been dug even deeper.”
The same can be said at the state level. The state water restrictions, which were set to expire at the end of February this year, are expected to be renewed through October.
Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order directing the state water board to extend the emergency regulations into next year, which is expected to go through some modifications. Environmental groups and water agencies are currently weighing in on whether population growth and investments in recycled water could allow some regions to adjust to a lower, less onerous level of water restrictions.
Going beyond the state requirements, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has asked water retailers, including the city of Mountain View, to reduce water usage by 30 percent. The water district provides water to residents in the south end of Mountain View, with the vast majority of the city receiving water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Responding to the calls for conservation, the city of Mountain View has amended an ordinance limiting outdoor irrigation for city residents to two days a week. Residents conserved hundreds of millions of gallons of water in the dry summer months when compared to 2013.
During the summer months, the water district also saw the largest increase in reports of water waste throughout the county. In the month of June alone, the district received 334 calls, 362 emails and 1,585 reports of water waste through the water district’s app, Access Valley Water. The city of Mountain View saw a similar uptick in reports, prompting the hire of a part-time water conservation specialist.
Everything is so wet and green now I’d just be watering puddles if I turned on the irrigation. I feel like we’ve gotten over the hump and saved the yard from the drought of the century. So far anyway.
What is strange for our lawn is it’s going brown now but stayed green for the last year without us every watering it.
I don’t know if the cold finally got it. It’s definitely turning brown. Don’t know if this rain is going to wake it back up.
You’d be an idiot to run your sprinklers anyway, even if not for the drought. The ground is soaked!
I have a neighbor, who rents their home, who still has their sprinklers running on a timer everyday even when it’s raining. Worse is that the sprinklers don’t even align to water the grass, but water the sidewalks instead with all the water running down the storm drain. Despite many calls to the city’s hotline, nothing has changed even after the city has come out an put door tags on the residence. The problem is that there is no bite to the city’s enforcement.
Drought’s over people.
So Tommy, How do you define a drought being over?
If it stopped raining today do you think we would have sufficient amounts of water stored for the rest of the year?
That’s what it will mean when the drought is actually over. Please clarify, you may have your own definition of the drought being over, one that is different from all the experts in this area?
The drought is a long term climate issue; the recent rainfall is a short term weather event. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and celebrate a “fix” to anything.
Though I do think we MV residents do owe ourselves a nice pat on the back for being responsive and responsible to the local situation. I mean reducing our rates of water usage better than required. Well done us!