California’s water crisis affects the Hill

Rainfall since Oct. 1, 2021, the beginning of the current rain year, has been 11.4 inches. In the five months since Jan. 1, 2022, Idyllwild has received 3.5 inches of rain. The long-term average rainfall from October to June is 23.2 inches, about twice what has fallen this year, the third consecutive drought year.

The first three months of 2022 were the driest in more than 100 years. January through April was the third driest in 128 years, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s national drought information.

Earlier this year, the state Department of Water Resources announced it would deliver only 5% of requested State Water Project (SWP) supplies in 2022. SWP deliveries to Southern California are at a record low, a result of limited snowpack and reservoirs depleted by three years of drought.

“California is facing a drought crisis and every local water agency and Californian needs to step up on conservation efforts. I am hopeful the measures enacted by the State Water Board will lead to a reduction of water use across the state. These conservation measures are increasingly important as we enter the summer months. I’m asking all Californians to step up, because every single drop counts,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom after the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopted emergency regulations two weeks ago.

All of California’s 58 counties are under a drought emergency proclamation. Californians are being asked to reduce their water use by 15% over 2020 levels to protect water reserves. Since winter, Newsom has been urging local water agencies to strengthen their efforts to conserve water. Thus far, the water usage data does not reflect any significant progress.

On May 24, SWRCB took more aggressive actions to force urban water suppliers to conserve water.

“The new regulation bans irrigating turf at commercial, industrial, and institutional properties, such as grass in front of or next to large industrial or commercial buildings. The ban does not include watering turf that is used for recreation or other community purposes, water used at residences or water to maintain trees,” said the SWRCB press release announcing the changes.

The regulation, which was approved unanimously, requires local agencies to implement water use restrictions amid the possibility that water supplies may be up to 20% lower due to extreme weather.

The Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to multiple Southern California water districts, announced June 1, “Local water providers serving about one-third of Southern California will begin mandating emergency drought restrictions today to stretch the region’s severely limited water supplies until the end of the year … Restrictions vary by city, but largely consist of limiting outdoor watering to one or two days a week or implementing water budgets for residents.”

“People need to take these restrictions seriously. There is not enough SWP water coming from Northern California this year to meet normal demands. So we must do everything we can to lower our use and stretch this limited supply,” Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil said in the release.

SWRCB took action after water usage continued to increase during the third consecutive year of drought. In early May, SWRCB reported that water consumption statewide had increased 19% in March, moving strongly in the opposite direction of Newsom’s goal of a 15% savings from 2020. This was the greatest increase since 2015.

As the current poor water status deteriorates further below the Hill, the situation here is not nearly as dire. Water supplies and sources are in better shape locally. As Fern Valley Water District (FVWD) General Manager Victor Jimenez said, “We haven’t changed much in the last 20 years.” But water demand for residential growth has continued and is continuing to increase “in the flatlands.”

“The biggest thing there, which doesn’t have much affect here, is 70% of water usage is for outdoor watering. Not a lot of lawns up here,” he added.

SWRCB oversees urban water suppliers. The three Hill water agencies — Fern Valley, Idyllwild (IWD) and Pine Cove (PCWD) — are too small to be included within the SWRCB purview. None have 3,000 customers nor supply a minimum of 1,000 acre-feet of water (about 10 times the production of IWD).

The largest increases occurred in areas surrounding the Hill — Los Angeles, San Diego and the desert cities. Many water agencies in those areas are imposing strong curbs on water usage, especially outside usage.

Newsom’s goal was a 15% reduction in water usage when comparing March 2020 to March 2022. The vast majority of the state, including the Hill districts, did not achieved this goal.

PCWD customers used 2% more water in March compared to March 2020. Fern Valley provides bi-monthly data. Usage for March and April this year was 1.7% greater than March and April 2020.

However, IWD’s March consumption was 150% greater than two years ago. This year, production was 7.3 million gallons compared to 4.9 million in 2020.

The lower production two years ago is very likely to be the “COVID factor,” according to IWD’s General Manager Leo Havener.

“There were very few people up here then. Weekends were empty and water use was way down,” he added. Comparing production during the two months before and after March, the production in February was 6% less than two years ago, but April’s production was 130% greater compared to April 2020, when production was nearly 10% below the five-year average.

“Every water agency across the state needs to take more aggressive actions to communicate about the drought emergency and implement conservation measures,” said Newsom. “Californians made significant changes since the last drought but we have seen an uptick in water use, especially as we enter the summer months. We all have to be more thoughtful about how to make every drop count.”

While the Hill water districts are sensitive to the current climate conditions, water usage for the beginning of 2022 (January through April) has varied. Consumers in Fern Valley and Pine Cove districts have used less water through April than in 2021. Both district’s production through April is about 700,000 gallons less than in 2021. This is an 8.2% reduction for FVWD and 5.2% for PCWD, and consistent with the reduced consumption in 2021 compared to 2020.

“We’re still good,” Jimenez said. “Our wells look good, but creeks are drying up. Well levels are staying pretty consistent overall.”

FVWD is in Stage 3, which cover’s everything the governor wants, Jimenez stressed. Outdoor water usage should have a shut-off nozzle and limit water to the period from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

IWD consumption, however, has grown both this year and in 2021. For the first four months of 2022, consumption has increased 4.3 million gallons, or 15%, over the same period in 2021. And usage in 2021 was 4.9 million gallons, 5.9% more than 2020.

“Our current status is ok. There is no crisis here,” stated Havener. “We went into Stage 2 on June 1. We’re just asking customers to reduce usage by 10%.”

PCWD is currently in Stage 2. However, water conditions are improving. The water level of district’s monitoring well has increased 2 feet in each of the past two months, according to acting General Manager Jeremy Potter. This reverses the decline that was happening last summer and winter.

“We’re doing good, but we’ll be in Stage 2 through the summer,” Potter said. “Our tanks are full and pumping has been minimal. We’re a lot different than districts off the Hill. We’ve still got to be cautious. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”

Water conservation

The state is calling on Californians to take immediate action to avoid a crisis, including:

• Limiting outdoor watering — cutting back by even just one day a week can save up to 20% more water.

• Taking shorter showers. Going to a five minute shower to save up to 12.5 gallons per shower when using a water-efficient shower head.

• Taking showers instead of baths — a bath uses up to 2.5 times the amount of water as a shower.

• Using a broom instead of a hose to clean outdoor areas to save 6 gallons of water every minute.

• Washing full loads of clothes to save 15 to 45 gallons of water per load.

Participants will receive a stipend of $20 per hour, training and mentoring from nonprofit and government partners and supportive services including transportation, clothing, counseling and technological assistance.

For more information, please call the Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Solutions department at 951-955-1161.

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