Willow Glen Resident

News

Water reserves at an all-time high at Santa Clara Valley Water District

By Eli Segall

Santa Clara Valley Water District's efforts to replenish the valley's water supply have paid off.

By procuring reserves and refilling groundwater recharge ponds, the district is flush with H2O, according to water supply manager Melanie Richardson. The district, a wholesale water provider to San Jose Water Company and other Santa Clara County-based utilities, owns a storage basin in Bakersfield that has a year's supply of water.

"We have the fullest groundwater basins we've ever had in the county, " Richardson said.

The local situation contrasts sharply with other Bay Area water companies. Last month, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, a wholesale water provider to companies that serve 2.4 million customers in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, asked customers for a voluntary 10 percent cut in water usage.

"We don't know what the water situation will be like next year," said Mansour Nasser, deputy director of the San Jose Environmental Services Department. "We want to avoid mandatory rationing."

The anticipated dip in local water reserves is a result of reduced snowpack in the Sierra Mountains and decreased water levels at Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, said San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tony Winnicker. The reservoir, which supplies 85 percent of the commission's water supply, last year faced its fourth driest winter since 1919, Winnicker said.

"We're in an era of climate change," he said. "[The reduction] needs to become a permanent way of life, not just a one-time thing."

Recent history indicates this might come true. Mandatory water rationing was last imposed during the 1987-1992 drought; since then, personal water consumption dropped by 15 percent, said Nicole Sandkulla, water resources engineer for the Bay Area Water Conservation Agency. She attributed the drop to habits acquired during the drought, and new, more efficient plumbing codes and home appliances.

To prepare residents for possible drought conditions, a coalition of Bay Area water agencies are planning to run print, radio and television ads on the need for reduced water usage, said Jerry De La Piedra, senior water conservation specialist with the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

Despite its healthy reserves, the district plans to participate in the campaign.

"We've planned very well," Richardson said, "and part of our planning is ongoing water conservation."

To learn more about water conservation, call 408.265.2600, ext. 2554, or visit www.valleywater.org.