A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 6, 2007
2. Supply
DELTA RULING IMPACTS:
Less Delta water means dry times; Calls to redesign the estuary follow order to curtail pumping - Sacramento Bee
Water shortage ominous; Rationing may surface in Southland next year - LA Daily News
Ruling spurs 'great deal of uncertainty' over water supply - Riverside Press Enterprise
Valley Farmers May Have To Cut Back With Water Reduction Plan - ABC Channel 30
SCV Loses Water - Santa Clarita Signal
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CONSERVATION:
Column: Water issue no mirage - North County Times
RUSH CREEK
Bone-dry Rush Creek troubles residents; Below average snow pack, upstream users cited for lack of water - Grass Valley Union
DESALINATION:
Cambria seeks OK to install test wells for desal plant; The state Coastal Commission is set to vote Thursday on a key hurdle in the town’s desalination plant plan - San Luis Obispo Tribune
WATER BANKING PROJECT:
RCSD shuns AVEK in water banking plan; Additional water coming
QUOTE: "This will assure a continuous flow of water ...” Attorney Jill Willis -
WATER STORAGE:
Water storage to rise with county aid - Antelope Valley Press
WATER RESTRICTIONS:
Mandatory water restrictions for San Lorenzo Valley residents - Associated Press
DELTA RULING IMPACTS:
Less Delta water means dry times; Calls to redesign the estuary follow order to curtail pumping
Sacramento
By Matt Weiser, staff writer
Water rationing. Idled farmland. Hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses. Dry times lie ahead for a state struggling to serve up more water from a tapped-out ecosystem.
A judge's order last Friday is expected to require state and federal agencies to pump one-third less water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The estuary provides water to 23 million Californians and about 5 million acres of farmland.
The historic order rocked cities, farmers and water officials statewide, who fear that shortages are ahead.
"It's our quality of life that is at stake and the regional economy as well," said Greg Zlotnick, special counsel for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which provides Delta water to 1.7 million people in Silicon Valley.
On Wednesday, a powerful alliance of water interests used that concern to press hard for a package of politically touchy solutions: new dams and a canal around the Delta favored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"This crisis is indefinite," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. "It will last until we implement a comprehensive program, such as the governor has outlined."
Stephen Patricio, chairman of the Western Growers Association, estimated economic effects in the farm sector from the court order could reach $400 million next year -- if the state is blessed with normal rainfall.
Zlotnick said his agency may have to reduce the amount of water projected to be available for new housing and commercial development.
While some blamed the judge and environmental laws for causing the cutbacks, others said it was only a matter of time.
Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, said
"The day of reckoning has arrived," Miller said. "Now we have an opportunity to work within the environmental realities of the Delta and see if we can work out how we can operate this system and protect it at the same time."
The court ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno, came in a case brought against state and federal water officials by the Natural Resources Defense Council and three other environmental groups.
Wanger found that the agencies' plan for operating the Delta failed to adequately consider harm to the fragile Delta smelt, a finger-length fish that is a vital indicator of the estuary's health.
The judge called for pumping reductions from December through June sufficient to protect the smelt. He gave the parties 50 days to translate his verbal order into a set of new operating rules.
That order will stand until late next year, when a new set of rules, already in the works, are expected to be finished. But the new rules are likely to continue pumping reductions.
Officials at Wednesday's press conference said they were still analyzing the court decision to understand its effect. Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said it will mean a cutback to Delta water users of between 12 percent and 37 percent.
"We're going to have to call for unprecedented levels of conservation from our 18 million customers," said Roger Patterson, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest urban consumer of Delta water.
Not everyone sees the pumping cutbacks as a calamity.
Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit think tank in
Gleick said it is critical for urban and agricultural interests to use water more efficiently.
"There's enough water for healthy agriculture and a healthy economy, but there's not enough to waste or use inefficiently," he said.
He gave numerous examples: Replace 6-gallon-per-flush toilets with 1.6-gallon models and top-loading washing machines with more efficient front-loaders. Use precision sprinklers to irrigate fields and shift from growing crops that use lots of water to those that require less.
Gleick noted that four farming staples -- rice, cotton, alfalfa and irrigated pasture -- use about half of the agricultural water in the state but produce a small fraction of agricultural income.
"I'm not saying, 'Don't grow cotton or alfalfa' " Gleick said, "but it is worth discussing how much we grow. These have been taboo discussions in the past."
Others warned against rushing into solutions that may have long-term consequences.
"What we're seeing here is the tip of the iceberg with regard to the long-term decay of the Delta," said Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis. "We have to be very thoughtful about how we redesign the Delta."
The judge's ruling addresses only one of the identified threats to the Delta: water export pumping.
Other threats remain, including water contamination caused by farming and urbanizing, weak levees and aggressive invasive species that have altered the food supply available to native species such as smelt.
Part of the solution may be a new structure to move
Options for such a "conveyance" structure include armoring existing levees through the center of the Delta and restoring surrounding areas, or building a peripheral canal to isolate export water and carry it around the Delta.
Schwarzenegger has proposed a $5.9 billion bond measure to build two new reservoirs and a Delta water conveyance structure.
Senate Democratic leader Don Perata of
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/363134.html
Water shortage ominous; Rationing may surface in Southland next year
LA Daily News – 9/5/07
By Alex Dobuzinskis, staff writer
For now, residents are being asked to voluntarily use less water, but the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California warned that mandatory rationing could become necessary for the first time since 1991.
The immediate trigger for concern arose from U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger's ruling last week that to protect the delta smelt, a small fish threatened with extinction, water imports from Northern California must be cut by up to 30 percent.
Officials said the threat of earthquakes and flooding, saltwater intrusion and aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta compound the problem.
"We have further evidence that the delta is in crisis, if there was any doubt about it," said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.
Officials said Wednesday that they are still trying to sift through Wanger's ruling to determine how much water they will be able to move through the delta and into
Wanger did not specify how much less water could be pumped from the delta. Instead, he focused on protecting the smelt by slowing the water that flows into the pumps.
Tim Quinn, president of the Association of California Water Agencies, said that in a dry year there could be a 25 percent reduction in the amount of water pumped from the delta.
The MWD is preparing an allocation plan that would spell out how much water it might be able to provide the 26 cities and water agencies that it serves in six counties, including
If the district tells its members it has less water to provide them, it would be up to them to decide how to ask residents to cut back.
"The question is how soon do we need to go into that kind of decision-making. Do we have to do that in 2008, or do we rely on our reserve account - or (banked water) savings - to not do that in 2008? Those are the policy decisions that will be made."
The district imports about 50 percent of the water used by member agencies. About two-thirds of the water comes from the delta and the rest from the
The amount of water the district stands to lose from the court decision amounts to more than 10 percent of all the water its members use in a typical year.
In the city of
"If we have rationing in
The MWD plans to present its allocation plan to the board in the fall. But Patterson said officials will hope for plenty of rainfall this winter and voluntary conservation before they seek mandatory cuts. #
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6812463?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
Ruling spurs 'great deal of uncertainty' over water supply
Riverside Press Enterprise
By Jennifer Bowles and Jim Miller, staff writers
Another dry winter coupled with a judge's ruling that will severely reduce water supplies coming to the Inland region could lead to mandatory conservation measures in some areas, officials said Wednesday.
But most agencies said they would drill new wells, possibly increase water rates to customers who use large amounts and take other steps before forcing residents to conserve.
U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger sided late Friday with environmental groups who said the pumps in the Sacramento delta that bring the water south were killing a tiny endangered fish known as the Delta smelt. His order could reduce water supplies by up to one-third when the fish spawn beginning in December.
Metropolitan Water District, whose customers include suppliers in western
Board members "want to have that tool available in the event we don't see a very good winter and we find ourselves wanting to use it," said Roger Patterson, MWD's assistant general manager.
"The bottom line on this is that we moved into an area of tremendous uncertainty as to where we go from here," Patterson said.
"It makes it hard for us to provide a reliable water supply to our customers."
John Rossi, general manager of Western Municipal Water District, said a cutback of 20 percent or more will spur the district that serves the western half of western
Rossi said the district will first look at other options, such as buying water from cities like
The San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency will focus initially on educating residents about the delta situation; officials at Perris-based Eastern Municipal Water District, which serves the eastern half of western
'Crisis Is Indefinite'
Tim Quinn, president of the Association of California Water Agencies, said that while the judge's order will last a year, "the crisis is indefinite."
Randy Van Gelder, general manager of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, which imports delta water for several cities, said unlike a natural drought, this decision can have lasting impacts.
"We've had droughts that have lasted one or two or three years, the potential here, though, because you're dealing with saving an endangered species, this could become a permanent way of life, not just a temporary drought," said Van Gelder.
Officials in the Schwarzenegger administration said it will be left up to individual agencies to adopt conservation plans because the disruption in the delta affects communities differently, said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.
Snow and others urged lawmakers to act on Gov. Schwarzenegger's $5.95 billion water plan, which includes $1 billion for delta restoration and a new system to divert water around the environmentally sensitive area. The proposal has been blocked by Democrats who oppose the plan's call for additional reservoirs. Snow said a lasting solution is needed for the delta.
Wanger's ruling "introduces a great deal of uncertainty into the water supply," Snow said. "This won't be the last court case, it won't be the last disaster in the delta, unless we proceed in a very, very comprehensive fashion dealing with conservation, storage, conveyance, wastewater recycling -- the entire package."
A Dire Situation
Even before the ruling, the Inland region's major water sources were in bad shape. The Colorado River is gripped by an eight-year drought; the water content of the
If the dire water situation persists, agencies might consider an increase in rates as an incentive to get people to conserve.
"You see a number of areas in
Chris Diggs, water resources manager for
He said mandatory conservation most likely won't be adopted, but the City Council would be the body to consider the policy change, he said.
"As staffers, we're going to do everything we can to prevent taking that to the council," Diggs said.
Peter Gleick, president of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, said water agencies ought to promote ways to use water more efficiently.
"We can always drill another well and build another reservoir. But that thinking is killing our rivers and draining our aquifers," he said.
Susan Lien Longville, director of the Water Resources Institute at Cal State San Bernardino, said Inland agencies have increased their water-conservation activities. But she said it's also hard to talk conservation to residents when they see large parks and other public places irrigating several acres of water-thirsty grass.
"We need to set a good example," she said. "I suspect you'll see that more." #
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_delta06.3d5752a.html
Valley Farmers May Have To Cut Back With Water Reduction Plan
ABC Channel 30 – 9/5/07
09/05/2007 - A federal judge's decision to protect the threatened Delta Smelt put a limit on the amount of water released from the reservoir. But farmers in central
Farmers continue to flinch at the news their water supply could be cut considerably next year. 25 million Californians rely on Delta water but maybe none more than local growers.
On the West side of the central valley, where water's scarce and ever drop counts, farmers rely on reservoirs to deliver. Gary Beene, Farmer, says "If you don't have the water you don't have the crops."
Farmer Gary Beene is one of the smaller growers in the valley. Almonds, tomatoes and cotton keep his family's business alive. But a recent federal court ruling to save a threatened Smelt fish will reduce water available from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, water farmers like Beene use to grow their crops.
Beene says this water reduction will force him to reduce the number of employees and crops on his farms. "We'll cut back 20 to 30% in high value crops and maybe as much as 75 to 100% on some of the lower value crops," says Beene.
Agriculture and water authorities from around the state met Wednesday afternoon with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration. Both parties agree a better water storage and delivery system throughout the state is needed.
Stephen Patricio, Western Growers Association, says "When farm workers don't go to work the entire economy feels it."
The governor says the federal courts ruling is further proof the legislature should adopt his $5.9 billion comprehensive water plan. The money would aid in water storage, a new water delivery system and restoration of the Delta.
Lester Snow, Department of Water Resources, says "This won't be the last court case. It won't be the last disaster in the Delta, unless we proceed in a very, very comprehensive fashion."
Meanwhile Beene says he and other farmers have to go back to the drawing board and find ways to stretch out what little water's available.
The federal judge has order the water reduction plan to begin in December. Beene says unless the valley receives plenty of rain this winter, he will consider cutting jobs. #
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=5638740
SCV Loses Water
Santa Clarita Signal – 9/5/07
By Katherine Geyer, staff writer
The Santa Clarita Valley could see up to one-third less water coming from the State Water Project, following a federal court ruling Friday to reduce the amount of water coming from a key
The pumps were shut down at the
A judge gave a verbal ruling Friday that placed limits on the amount of water the state Department of Water Resources, which oversees the State Water Project, can pump from the delta. The Santa Clarita Valley gets about half its water from the State Water Project, which serves more than 25 million people throughout the state.
The restrictions will go into effect in December - when the smelt migrate to water near the pumps - until June when the smelt move to cooler waters.
Because the judge made a verbal ruling, the DWR does not yet know the details of the new limits.
"In an average year, it could be 10 percent up to one-third (less)," said Ted Thomas, spokesman for the DWR. "There still is some confusion about parts of it."
He said the decision is an interim ruling until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determines another solution, which could be next year or possibly later.
When the DWR shut down the pumps in June, the Castaic Lake Water Agency was forced to use its existing water in
"(CLWA) will definitely be affected," said Dan Masnada, CLWA's general manager. "Our concern is if this winter is as dry as (last) winter, then we might have to take some water out of storage out of our water banks in
He said that once the affected water agencies get more information on the details on the restrictions, CLWA will meet with local water purveyors and eventually city and county planning agencies to discuss the impact on future water supply. #
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=50488&format=html
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CONSERVATION:
Column: Water issue no mirage
North County
By Jim Trageser, columnist
Last week's ruling by a federal judge severely limiting the transfer of water from
The reality is that
Were we forced to live on the amount of fresh water naturally available (as the local Indian communities did in the centuries before the Europeans arrived), then the population that could be supported here would be more on the scale of tens of thousands -- clearly, not the millions who live here now.
With other states and northern
Which leaves us where?
The simple, fun answer is: Stop building more houses.
(We pretty much have done that for now, but that's due more to the crash and burn of the housing market than any sort of environmental or water conservation mandate.)
But recent figures show more people are moving out of
So if we are to conserve water, it isn't to help the environment, it's to preserve our ability to provide new housing for the generations to come.
And if we don't want to do so, it won't hurt Midwestern transplant-wannabes, but native-born kids who grew up here.
I sure don't see any easy answers on our water issues.
At some point, should our regional population continue to grow,
What is worrying is that carrying capacity will be marked by nothing more than unmitigated market forces -- that people will begin moving away in droves because our quality of life, economic opportunities or cost of living have spiraled out of control.
Few of us want a Big Brother-style of government dictating who can and can't live here, but at the same time, water being a public commodity, the government is going to decide how much water each of us will get.
Will that mean the end of grass lawns and tropical foliage? Will we each be reduced to a Japanese tea garden or a yard full of cactus?
Tough decisions lie ahead, and neither conservation alone nor a building moratorium will solve them. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/06/opinion/trageser/19_27_309_5_07.txt
RUSH CREEK
Bone-dry
Grass Valley
By Laura Brown, staff writer
This year, Jon and Sandy Love's grandchildren won't find any crawdads, fish or salamanders in the creek that runs through their grandparent's property.
Rush Creek
"It's just completely stopped and dried up," said Jon Love. This is the first year Love has seen the creek without water since he purchased the property 31 years ago.
The blackberry bushes that are usually green and lush are dry and shriveled. The last of the fish carcasses have disappeared along with the bear and deer, Love said.
Five tributaries flow into Rush Creek above the Loves' property before cascading past the Independence Trail and into the Yuba River
Neighbor Harley Lehman has been using hoses to fill a wide spot in the creek that runs on his property to keep water critters and fish alive.
During the past five years, he's witnessed the water levels fluctuate wildly, and he believes someone is tapping into a spring that flows into one of Rush Creek
"I've been trying to get to the bottom of it for five years," he said.
Lehman has contacted the state water board, South Yuba River Citizens League, Sequoia Challenge and other agencies with little success.
"I have a whole list of people I've called," Lehman said.
Dry year
Creeks throughout the foothills are drying up because of the lower than average snow packs, said Don Wight, water operations manager for Nevada Irrigation District. NID does not have jurisdiction or use Rush Creek
The dry creek could be the result of a change in upstream water use in the smaller tributaries, compounded by this year's extreme dryness, Wight said. Larger farms upstream have ceased buying water from the water agency's canals flowing in the region in recent years, and the lack of runoff could potentially impact the creek's water flow, Wight said.
In January, a woman called NID wondering why Rush Creek
"This isn't a new phenomenon. I'm not surprised it's dry," Wight said.
According to the State Water Resources Control Board, property owners have rights to water that flows on their land within limits. The agency ideally investigates complaints and fines those who divert water illegally, but budgetary constraints cause delays.
"There's not enough staff to be looking at everyone," said Ken Emanuel, environmental scientist for the state water board.
That's not reassuring to the Loves, Lehman and their neighbor Lillian Haakinson, who want answers now.
"My grandson used to fish there in that hole. This sure isn't normal. We've never not had water in there in the 22 years I've lived here," Haakinson said. #
http://www.theunion.com/article/20070906/NEWS/109060184
DESALINATION:
Cambria seeks OK to install test wells for desal plant; The state Coastal Commission is set to vote Thursday on a key hurdle in the town’s desalination plant plan
By Kathe Tanner, staff writer
Engineers say the test project is needed to find out how much ocean water a desalination plant can draw from below the sand.
The project includes drilling up to seven boreholes and installing two temporary wells to be periodically pumped and monitored for a year or two.
The well heads would be required to be under the sand and at least 100 feet from the creek and its estuary.
The county approved the test wells last year, but critics of the proposed plant appealed.
At a hearing in February, commissioners delayed a ruling so that the Cambria Community Services District could redesign its proposal.
In 2001, the district imposed a moratorium on new water connections because of recurring water shortages.
Supporters of the proposed plant say the town needs desalination to provide a drought-proof supply of drinking water.
The district and some residents have tried to further limit the community’s need for water and prevent growth that some argue could result from desalination or any other new source of water.
Both are key concerns of the commission. The panel would have to approve any permit to build the desalination plant.
The district board ruled in 2003 that the agency would serve only 4,650 residential connections. There are now 3,791.
Last year,
And on Aug. 23, the district board forbade transferring water connections to a high-elevation neighborhood of Lodge Hill, partly to reduce water demand and protect a sensitive
The district has embarked on a project to retire development rights on vacant lots without “intent to serve” letters for water connections or positions on the agency’s water connection wait list.
The commission staff noted in its report that state and county regulations do “not allow at this location the types of structures that would be needed” for a permanent desalination plant but recommended that the agency give the go-ahead for the test wells.
The Coastal Commission staff says the services district has changed the project sufficiently since February to meet state regulations—and avoid a county rule banning structures within 50 feet of the mean high-tide line or bluff edge.
Those changes include:
•Moving the two proposed monitoring wells lower on the beach, out of county control to an area regulated by the commission.
• Capping the two well heads with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or steel pipe, instead of concrete pads.
• Using a crane to lower and raise project-related vehicles onto and off the beach, rather than using a temporary ramp that opponents argued could damage the bluff edge.
If commissioners approve the wells’ permit, the earliest that the work can begin is Oct. 1, primarily because regulations protect western snowy plovers during their nesting season. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/132893.html
WATER BANKING PROJECT:
RCSD shuns AVEK in water banking plan; Additional water coming
QUOTE: "This will assure a continuous flow of water ...” Attorney Jill Willis
By Jill Barnes Nelson and Bill Deaver, staff writers
ROSAMOND - The Rosamond Community Service District board voted unanimously to participate in a Joint Powers Authority for a proposed water banking project at their meeting last week. The water banking program could bring additional water supplies to the community as early as this winter.
RCSD director chose Valley Mutual Water Company and Semitropic Improvement District of the Semitropic Water Storage District in the banking program rather than a controversial plan proposed by the Antelope Valley/East Kern Water Agency.
Valley Mutual’s site is near 110th St. West and is on a contiguous site away from development, while the AVEK site is near 60th Street West on several parcels of land sprinkled among existing homes and farms.
The Semitropic District is west of
The AVEK site has been discussed at several recent Rosamond Municipal Advisory Council meetings where Rosamond residents have tried unsuccessfully to obtain details of the agency’s plans. Although AVEK is awaiting results of an environmental impact report on the site, directors have voted to purchase the property.
Water storage
The water bank will provide up to 200,000 acre-feet of recharge and recovery capacity and will assist interested agencies in securing a local supply of water for the use of its customers.
"This is a joint project that will determine pricing, technical support and other financial considerations," said RCSD attorney Jill Willis. "This will assure a continuous flow of water as well as make arrangements to put water back into the ground for future use."
Protecting natural resources
"RCSD's participation in this water banking project is an important component to protecting Rosamond's natural resources, preventing water monopolies, keeping water rates affordable and ensuring long-term reliability," said RCSD General Manager Robert Neufeld. "RCSD is dedicated to protecting its present and future water supply for the community's families, schools, businesses, parks and other community services and water banking is a vital piece of that puzzle."
The RCSD will be able to buy water on the open market, storing it in the water bank and recovering that water when needed. It will bank an estimated 6,000 acre-feet of water, which is about two billion gallons of water. One acre-foot of water is nearly 326,000 gallons, enough to supply two average households for one year.
One part of the water bank tentatively is expected to be located on 1,700 acres of farmland west of 140th Street West to 190th Street West, north of Avenue A (Kern County south boundary) and south of Rosamond Blvd. Valley Mutual is currently leasing the property and has an option to buy.
"Water Banking will play a major role in the water future of all Californians," Neufeld said, "This is just the first of many projects of this type that could eventually find their way into the
Vote for tomorrow
President Greg Wood said this move was a vote for ‘the tomorrow' of Rosamond's water supply. "We have to insure that we will have water for the future," he said. "
http://desertnews.com/mdn/story7.html
WATER STORAGE:
Water storage to rise with county aid
By James Rufus Koren, staff writer
The seven tanks, each of which will hold 3 million gallons of water, will help the arid Valley get through periods of higher water demand and temporary shortages, said Melinda Barrett, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.
"There's a limit to the capacity of the system," Barrett said. "Whatever water we can store helps us provide water reliably to our customers."
She also said the new tanks will allow area water purveyors to use their entire allotment from the State Water Project.
"We sometimes don't use the full state allotment because we can't store it all," she said. "Storage tanks are a way to be able to take full advantage."
The tanks will be built at
Michael Flood, an engineer with the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, said area water purveyors currently have no storage capacity for state water.
"Right now, we can only take advantage of what we can use," he said. "We don't have anything locally."
The new wells and pump station also aim at increasing reliability, Barrett said.
She said a well's pump might fail, or an individual well might have unacceptably high naturally occurring levels of arsenic.
Having more wells increases the reliability of the Valley's groundwater system, which supplies 40% of the area's water.
"It's part of a plan that has been developing for some time in order to allow us to access the underground water and provide it when we need it," she said. "It goes to a reliability issue."
The Board of Supervisors awarded consultant contracts Tuesday for design and construction support work for the two projects.
"Supervisor (Michael D.) Antonovich recognizes that storage is going to be the solution to our water problems both now and in the future," said Norm Hickling, an aide to the 5th
A $1.16 million contract for consulting on the new wells went to Pasadena-based Tetra Tech, Inc., and a $465,000 contract for consulting on the new tanks was awarded to City of Industry-based Lee & Ro Inc. #
http://www.avpress.com/n/05/0905_s3.hts
WATER RESTRICTIONS:
Mandatory water restrictions for
Associated Press – 9/6/07
This week's restrictions follow requests by the San Lorenzo Valley Water District that residents voluntarily reduce water usage by 15 percent.
Usage by customers in Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Zayante and
"Apparently, there's just not enough of the people who are doing their part," water agency director Jim Mueller said.
The district sent letters to its 5,900 customers telling them it was necessary to cut water consumption 20 percent, and that the mandatory restrictions were now being imposed.
Mueller said water rationing and fines would come next if the newest conservation effort didn't work.
The mandatory restrictions include no outdoor watering between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., no washing at all of sidewalks, patios, decks, driveways and exterior building walls, and no car washing except with a bucket and hose with a shut-off nozzle. #
http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/363650.html
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