Despite November’s 1.87 inches of rain—a monthly high for drought-stricken 2014—and even more storms hitting South County through the first week of December, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board of directors enacted an extension of a 20 percent water reduction mandate through June 2015.
“It’s still very dire,” Director Dennis Kennedy, who represents District 1 on the board, said of the district’s water supply in its reservoirs and aquifers which supply groundwater storage. “I can’t predict how long it will take to restore that. Even if we get an above average wet winter, we’re still not out of this yet.”
The SCVWD board voted unanimously at its Nov. 25 meeting to extend the countywide water reduction measure that it first approved back in February. The board recommended measures be taken by retail water agencies, local municipalities and the county to reach that goal.
Since February, countywide water use has dropped by about 12 percent compared to 2013, falling short of the 20 percent target, according to water officials. As a result, groundwater storage (at a range of 200,000-250,000 acre-feet) has reached the “severe” level of a five-stage scale, as defined by the district’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan. Anderson is at 37.1 percent capacity, according to the SCVWD website. Chesbro reservoir is empty and Uvas is at 2.1 percent capacity. Total surface water storage at the district’s 10 reservoirs is at 29 percent of capacity.
Morgan Hill, one of the first cities in the county to adopt a resolution for a 20 percent water reduction, recorded a 24 percent water use reduction last month for a 16 percent cumulative rate since February, according to Kennedy. Gilroy is between 12-14 percent in overall reduction.
“Gilroy is doing especially well in using recycled water,” said Kennedy, touting the impact of the South County Regional WasteWater Authority, which has been widely used at Gilroy and Eagle Ridge golf courses as well as Gilroy Gardens, Obata Farms, Cintas and Calpine Power Plant.
“That’s been one of the big successes in South County,” Kennedy added.
Also part of the latest resolution, the SCVWD board approved budget adjustments of $3.8 million to extend augmented water conservation programs and outreach campaigns until June 30, 2015.
The district has already spent $7 million on reimbursing homeowners who participate in the landscape rebate program, which calls for residents to remove existing grass and replace it with “drought tolerant plants.” In doing so, participants are given $2 per square foot of turf removed. Morgan Hill added another $1 per square foot on top of that for its residents. For example, a resident stands to make $3,000 for every 1,000 square feet.
“We want to keep that program alive because it has been very successful, and the good thing about it is it’s permanent and conserves water continuously,” Kennedy said. “Staff is having a hard time keeping up with the requests.”
In 2014, the rebate program has seen a 500 percent increase in applications and rebates for the conversion of approximately 675,000 square feet of turf, according to water officials.
Local farmer Andy Mariani, of the eponymous Andy’s Orchard in east Morgan Hill, hoped that Tuesday’s storm was a sign of more to come, as his water sources are becoming even more limited. Water officials cut off Mariani and other surface-water users from their main water source, the Half Road Lateral, earlier this year. That pipeline, which pumps water from San Luis Reservoir into the county’s treatment plant and Anderson Dam, was being used freely by several agricultural and landscaping users.
Stormy weather has dropped another 1.93 inches of rain in the first two days of December, according to the National Weather Service Forecaster Diana Henderson. Showers continued through Wednesday afternoon (measurements were not available until after presstime) and scattered showers are expected for Dec. 4-5 with the next storm set to hit mid to late next week, Henderson said.
Along with the limited rainfall, Mariani said he’s been able to “limp along this year” by using water from a well at nearby Chiala Farms to irrigate his decades-old orchard. But that water source will be cut off when the Chialas begin to plant peppers, according to Mariani.
“Our only hope is it rains significantly more, and then maybe the district allows us to get water from them,” said Mariani, who also is looking to install a new water pump into an old well. “It’s going to be a precarious year, regardless.”
Despite the continuing drought conditions, Kennedy said the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project, which is scheduled to start at the end of 2015, is still “proceeding full speed ahead with engineering and environmental work.”
Kennedy added that water officials have been in contact with the state’s Division of Dam Safety to see if there is a possibility to delay the project since Anderson is being used as an “emergency reserve” with water pumped in from San Luis. Rebuilding or retrofitting the dam will require draining the reservoir.
“We are having those discussions, but to my knowledge we do not have an agreement or approval to delay it,” Kennedy said.
