With local drinking water supplies reaching historic levels following four straight years of statewide drought conditions, authorities are beginning to ease up on consumption restrictions.
The Morgan Hill City Council voted unanimously June 15 to loosen its drought restrictions by declaring a “level 1 water supply shortage,” lifting some residential and commercial water use limits that have been in place for more than a year. In April 2015, the council declared a “level 2” shortage in response to the statewide need to cut water consumption by 30 percent from 2013 levels.
The city is still committed to keeping water use down by 20 percent from 2013, but the June 15 vote allows customers to water their yards up to three days per week, instead of just the two allowed under the level 2 restrictions, according to Morgan Hill Program Administrator Anthony Eulo. City water customers are also now permitted to wash their vehicles at home with potable water, as long as a shutoff nozzle is used.
The council’s vote followed the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors’ decision, on June 14, to lower the countywide conservation target to 20 percent, from the previous goal of 30 percent.
SCVWD and city staff have said the local water supply is up due to the El Nino rains of the winter of 2015-16. These rains, which Eulo classified as “normal” for the season, replenished the groundwater table on which South County relies, and filled reservoirs throughout the state—sources which dried up during the previous four years of drought conditions.
“While one normal winter did not end the drought, as many reservoirs and aquifers remain in depleted conditions, it lessened the severity of the current drought,” reads a city staff report.
Eulo added that SCVWD expects to set a “record in groundwater recharge” this year, by directing more water into ponds designed for “managed recharge” than they ever have before. He said the two chief aquifers serving Morgan Hill are “improving dramatically,” with one already recovered to 2013 levels and the other already surpassing the pre-drought supply.
Specifically, the groundwater elevation at the Morgan Hill Index Well near U.S. 101 and East Dunne Avenue is about 295 feet, and projected to reach 330 feet by 2017. In late 2014, the elevation dropped to about 260 feet, the lowest since 2010. The Coyote Valley Well, near Santa Teresa Boulevard and Palm Avenue, is at about 270 feet in groundwater elevation, up from about 250 feet in late 2015.
SCVWD Board Chair Barbara Keegan said the reduction in conservation target from 30 percent to 20 percent is “modest,” even if it is based on improving water supplies.
“We are still in a drought,” Keegan said. “We don’t know if next year is going to be another dry year. Four years of drought is not erased by one year of decent rain.”
Morgan Hill residents responded “tremendously” to the city’s level 2 shortage, saving almost 1 billion gallons of water since April 2015, Eulo noted.
City water regulators will continue to focus on long-term water supply solutions and better efficiency, Eulo said. These include increased recycled water capacity; a landscape ordinance that reduces water used for irrigation in new and remodeled landscapes; better stormwater retention in new residential developments that allow more rainwater to percolate into the groundwater system; statewide requirements for water-saving fixtures at new homes; and drilling new wells to serve city customers.
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• Irrigation watering up to three days per week
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• Customers required to fix leaks, breaks or malfunctions within 72 hours after discovery
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• No washing down hard or paved surfaces
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• Includes all permanent restrictions in the city’s water waste ordinance, including no irrigation hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; no watering lawns for more than 15 minutes per day (unless drip irrigation is in use); no excessive water flow or runoff; and recirculating water required for water fountains and ornamental water features
