Water supply for the Pine Cove Water District is satisfactory and unthreatened, according to General Manager Jerry Holldber, who gave his annual water report at the board meeting Wednesday, June 8.
“We’ll stay in Stage 2 [emergency water restrictions] but still apply Stage 1 rates to customers,” he announced. “Moisture is almost normal … and I do not see an immediate threat because the wells are not coming up a lot. I’m comfortable supplying customer needs.”
Holldber discussed the condition of PCWD wells and overall water supply. PCWD depends entirely on wells; therefore, rain and snowfall are critical to generating groundwater to supply the wells.
Addressing the weather, he acknowledged that this year, there was one good snowfall on the mountain, which made a difference. Regarding the rain forecasts, Holldber said, “It would have been nice to get an El Niño winter but, unfortunately, it was ‘El No No’ for us.”
In May, PCWD produced 2.3 million gallons of water, which was about 150,000 gallons more than April and 90,000 gallons (4 percent) more than in May 2015.
For the first five months of 2016, production has totaled 1.1 million gallons (or 10 percent) less than the same period of 2015. Over the last 12 months, production has fallen 3 million gallons, or 10 percent. This is the least amount of water used through May since 2010 and the least in the past decade.
Also for the March and April billing period, water loss was 7 percent. In January, water loss was about 12 percent and the 2015 average was nearly 13 percent.
Holldber attributed the savings to the meter replacement program, which he plans to continue, as well as employing a leak-detection project. “It’s a cheap investment,” he said. “It’s almost too good to be true.”
In financial matters, the board unanimously adopted its fiscal year 2016-17 budget. The final budget was identical to the draft budget, which was discussed during the May meeting.
The board also held a public hearing for comments on its annual $30 standby assessment. The assessment is applied to parcels in the district without an active water meter. No one came to speak for or against the proposal, which is the same as last year.
The board also adopted a resolution establishing its 2016-17 rebate program, which also is identical to last year with the exception that no rain barrels are available through the district.