Council to consider how to achieve this at its April 1
meeting
In reaction to the water district board’s call for a mandatory 15 percent reduction in water use today, the Morgan Hill City Council will hear a staff recommendation Wednesday on how to achieve the water savings.
In a unanimous vote, the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors approved staff’s recommendation.
“To make up for the shortfall we’re facing due to a third dry year and cutbacks in our imported supplies, we really need people to conserve water as best they can,” said Board Chair Sig Sanchez. “There is no guarantee that we won’t face more years of drought and we have to be ready for that.”
Compounding the statewide drought, the county has to reduce the amount of water imported from the Sierra snowpack by two-thirds, causing the water district to rely more heavily on its reserves, according to a staff report.
Despite significant rainfall in February and earlier this month, restrictions on pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect fisheries has reduced the quantity and reliability of the district’s imported water supplies. About half of the county’s drinking water comes from the Delta.
“As the steward of this natural resource, it is the water district’s responsibility to ensure we can meet the demand of 1.8 million people,” district CEO Sharon Judkins said in a statement. “The last drought in Silicon Valley lasted five years and we need to be prepared in case that happens again.”
The water district’s local reservoirs are at roughly 65 percent of capacity and many of the state reservoirs are at or below 50 percent of capacity.
The city council heard a report on how to achieve water savings from public works program administrator Anthony Eulo during a workshop held before their regularly scheduled meeting March 18. At that time, staff recommended aiming for a 20 percent savings in water use by increasing the water rates for high water users. Right now, the city’s water rates are $1.16 per unit for the first tier, or users who consume one through 10 units of water; $2.32 per unit for the second tier, or for the 11th through 30th units of water used; and $3.47 per unit for the 31st unit of water and every unit after that. A unit of water is equal to 748 gallons; the average Morgan Hill family of five uses about 18 units per month, statistically speaking. About 60 percent of the city’s water use goes to landscaping.
Eulo said 31 units of water equals 23,000 gallons, and anyone using that much water is likely wasting it.
“It’s not that you have six kids,” he said. “You either have a very large landscape that’s not water wise, or you’re wasting a lot of water.”
Morgan Hill water users, including residents and workers, pump almost 2.8 billion gallons of water a year, according to Eulo.
Eulo noted that the district offers many programs and rebates to help residents and businesses save water, and that the city matches the district for two popular rebates: replacing toilets with high-efficiency ones and replacing turf with low water use landscaping.
The water district offers numerous programs and rebates to help residents and businesses save water and money. For details, visit valleywater.org or call 265-2600.
