Morgan Hill water users are conserving as public works officials
had hoped, but an overly warm weekend forecast could cause a
shortage to return. Fortunately the local fire scene has been
quiet.
Morgan Hill water users are conserving as public works officials had hoped, but an overly warm weekend forecast could cause a shortage to return. Fortunately the local fire scene has been quiet.
Carl Bjarke, deputy director of public works, said Thursday that the reservoirs are holding their own in the face of slightly lower water use.
“The public outreach has been helping,” Bjarke said.
Both The Times and Channel 17, the city’s public service cable channel have asked for conservation.
Ever since an “Urgent” level was proclaimed during the July 24-25 weekend, officials have asked the public to take care with water use. Residents have limited their water use enough to keep the urgency level from moving to stage two – Critical – or stage three – Emergency – and water reserves have returned close to normal.
“We did cut parks’ irrigation by 50 percent last Friday,” Bjarke said.
Browned grass is being replaced by bark.
Weather will continue unhelpful with temperatures expecting to reach the low to mid-90s today and Saturday, but a cooling trend should appear Sunday through Wednesday, 87 down to 82.
The earlier predicament came about because the city cannot use three wells to pump enough water to meet the increased demand.
The wells were closed in 2003 when detectable levels of the chemical perchlorate were found. Olin Corp., the company responsible for perchlorate in the South Valley aquifer, has paid the city for one replacement well but is resisting helping out in other ways. The city has retained legal counsel and is working through the state Regional Water Quality Control board to force Olin to ease the ongoing situation.
Residents are still asked to conserve and “water heroes” could be asked to cut their irrigation by 50 percent during the crisis.
A water hero is a business that uses great amounts of water but is willing to cut back when needed. Ashcraft said four Morgan Hill School District sites, Alien Technology and Towa/Intercon Technologies in Morgan Hill Business Park and Cochrane Plaza have all signed up as water heroes.
Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft said four Morgan Hill School District sites, Alien Technology and Towa/Intercon Technologies in Morgan Hill Business Park and Cochrane Plaza have all signed up as water heroes.
The city provides Morgan Hill residents with low-flow shower heads and aerators for kitchen and bath faucets free for the asking. They also have a packet for waterwise gardening and water conservation kits. Stop by City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or call Andi at 779-7247 and she will mail the packet and kit.
Fire Prevention Specialist Chris Morgan, based at the California Department of Forestry, South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District in Morgan Hill, said Thursday that the local fire scene has been “reasonably quiet” the last few days. He had good news about the 1,246-acre Kincaid fire on San Jose’s Mt. Hamilton.
“We expect to announce by 8 p.m. Thursday that the Kincaid fire is controlled,” Morgan said.
The 250 crew members working the fire will be demobilized to rest, return to their home stations or move north to help out with the Bear Fire on the east end of Lake Shasta.
The electricity supply has also eased a bit from warnings earlier in the week.
Jeff Smith, spokesman for PG&E, said the statewide power authority has issued warnings, but locally, things are not too bad.
“We are continuing to encourage the public to conserve,” Smith said, “and, if it does, we should not have any required loss of power during the current heatwave.”
