While Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Jan. 17 and California is looking at its lowest rainfall total on record, local agencies remain hopeful that the next few months will bring needed precipitation. And, like Brown, they’re calling on residents to voluntarily reduce their water consumption.
It’s still early in the season, says Marty Grimes, program administrator for the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s communication unit.
“If we look at it statistically, there’s still a likelihood for rain and snow over the rest of January and into February and March,” he adds.
A report by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, released the same day Brown made his declaration, paints a much drier picture, however, indicating below-normal levels of rainfall for California and several other states in February, March and April.
Locally, Grimes says water district staff is set to go before the board of directors Feb. 11 with plans for efficient water use. “We really won’t know what is going on until the end of March, and the situation will be even clearer by April, but we’re still in fair shape for 2014.”
The water district is projecting the area has 340,000 acre-feet in groundwater reserves, according to Grimes, although not all those acre-feet can be used in a single year. It also has 263,000 acre-feet stored in Kern County, although it only can draw on 45,000 acre-feet per year. He says supplies that include about 53,000 acre-feet of carryover water plus groundwater should make this year’s supplies adequate. Carryover water includes available but not yet imported water plus that in area reservoirs.
“We’re not panicking. We’re not yet in a dire situation, but if it continues dry we’re going to be dipping modestly into the groundwater. However, the board could decide in February to call for some level to conserve water,” Grimes says. He added that this could be the third dry year of a six- or seven-year drought. If that’s the case, conservation at some point will become a must.
The water district has set up some new programs that may reduce water usage and keep restrictions at bay at least for a while, including conservation ideas and rebates.
The district is offering a $100 rebate for homes that connect clothes washers to a graywater system for landscaping. Instead of rationing water for lawns, this program distributes the water used by the washing machine to irrigate. The program is offered to any homeowner in Santa Clara County who agrees to pre- and post-inspections.
Each plan requires an outline of the location of the graywater outlet, diversion valve and irrigation lines to receive the district’s approval for the plan. It must adhere to state and local regulations, and homeowners may be asked for documentation proving that all local ordinances are met.
About 18 system requirements must be met, including using washing machine water only to a large enough area that will absorb it. All graywater has to be contained on site without runoff into streets or waterways and without any surface ponding.
Each system must be designed and installed to prevent contact with humans or pets and not used to irrigate root crops or edible parts of food crops that touch the soil.
conservation and rebates
More information about the graywater system and rebates can
be found on the water district’s website at valleywater.org/pro
grams/ConservationAtHome.aspx.
That same page also lists a program allowing home and apartment residents’ free house calls to review water usage, provide low-flow shower heads and aerators and suggest water-efficient improvements that even include an annual irrigation schedule for landscaping. The program is open to anyone in Santa Clara County, except San Jose Water Company customers. To schedule an appointment, call 800.548.1882 or click on the Water-Wise House Calls site on the above page.
The water district also is offering rebates for homeowners interested in installing high efficiency toilets that save water, energy and money through June 30 or when funding is depleted. Rebates for HETs range from up to $125 for each premium model HET or up to $50 for each qualifying non-premium HET.
The qualifying premium HETs flush at 1.06 gallons or less and only need one flush. The non-qualifying HETs use 1.28 gallons of water or less per flush. Rebates are offered for sites in Santa Clara County that haven’t received a prior rebate or weren’t installed directly, through distributions, vouchers or other water district funded programs and must be approved by the district.
Residents are limited to three rebates per single-family household. Multi-family properties, businesses and agencies are limited by the number of qualifying toilets on site. Toilets must be installed and working with the completed program application and original receipts submitted to the district’s contractor within 90 days of purchase date. Installation and new construction costs aren’t covered by the rebate. All rebates of $600 or more can be considered taxable income by the IRS and the state.
The website valleywater.org/Programs/residentialHETprogram.aspx lists sites for HET retailers as well as locations for recycling old toilets.
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