Santa Clara Valley Water District Warns Of Potential Dry Winter

By Jane Kadah, Bay City News Service

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — As the South Bay's dry winter season comes to an end, impending threats of drought looms over Santa Clara County's water supply.

On Tuesday, Santa Clara Valley Water officials discussed county efforts to conserve water, and how residents can partake in efforts as well.

Currently, the United States Drought Monitor classifies most of Santa Clara County to be at the moderate drought level.

"And we have no idea how long it will last, or how bad it might get," Valley Water Board of Directors Chair Tony Estremera said.

This means that streams, reservoirs or wells are low and water shortages are developing or imminent.

Lower levels could result in damage to crops and pastures and eventually impact the supply of clean for cleaning or consumption -- raising water prices and enforcing restrictions on water use for residents and businesses.

Currently, Santa Clara County's 10 local reservoirs are at 30 percent of their average levels.
The state's top reservoirs are also below their average levels. The Oroville Reservoir is at 53 percent, Shasta is at 66 percent and Trinity Lake is at 68 percent, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The reason for lower reservoir levels is simple: less rain and snow, known as a "dry winter," because of climate change, Keller said.

The county had 50 percent lower rain fall this year and the state's snow tops are 61 percent lower than normal, which will subsequently impact reservoir levels.

And the region has been experiencing consecutive dry winters since 2017, Keller said.

"If we start getting another dry winter, we're really going to be talking about conservation and restrictions, water reductions and all those kinds of things," Keller said. "We are really at the cusp of a drought."

Under a moderate drought classification, the U.S. Drought Monitor suggests counties and local leaders encourage voluntary water-use restrictions.

And while Valley Water has not officially declared the county to be in a drought, it is preparing itself for the consequences of another potential dry winter.

Valley Water measures whether or not it is in a drought based on groundwater levels.

Now groundwater levels are more than 300,000-acre-feet and it would have to fall in between 250,000-300,000-acre feet for the county to declare a drought and enforce up to 10 percent reductions in water use.

By the end of the year, Valley Water believes it will be close to falling under that 300,000-acre-feet mark, according to its March 2021 Monthly Groundwater Report.

"Currently we have healthy groundwater levels," Keller said. "But our current projections show that we will need supplemental imported water to maintain our healthy groundwater levels and prevent subsidence."

Supplemental imported water is purchased or brought in from outside of the county.

Already, Santa Clara County imports about 55 percent of its water supply from two main sources: The State Project and the Central Valley Project, Keller said.

But because of statewide rain shortages, those sources won't be able to provide the county's full allocation.

The State Water Project is only allocating 10 percent of the allotted amount and the Central Valley Project is only allocating 5 percent for agriculture and 55 percent for everything else manufacturing and industrial, Keller said.

So, the county is taking it upon itself to conserve as much water as it can and incentivize residents and businesses to do the same.

County Efforts

The county has invested into heavily in water infrastructure and technology, Estremera said.
The most notable investment is the Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit Project to strengthen the dam and provide greater control of water levels in the reservoir.

Valley Water is also partnering with local cities and expanding its use of recycled and advanced purified water.

Chief Operating Officer of Water Utility Aaron Baker also noted that the county has an inspection program that uses "the latest technology to find any issues before they become large problems."

"This along with updating and maintaining our pipelines, helps us make our water supply more reliable," Baker said.

The county also implemented a voluntary call in 2017 for a 20 percent reduction in water use compared to 2013 levels.

"And since then, Santa Clara County has saved 20 percent compared to the water use in 2013 every year, except for last year," Keller said.

Last year, the county was down 16 percent, "which is still good," but not ideal, Keller said.

Baker noted that the decrease could be because of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

But Valley Water leaders hope that the county will save 20 percent this year.

Resident and Business Efforts

There are a couple of programs instituted by the water district to incentivize reductions in residential and commercial water use.

One is a landscape rebate program that reduces costs for those who switch out their high water-using grass for a sustainable low water-using landscape.

It's a program that more than 8,000 residents in Santa Clara County have taken advantage of since 2014, Senior Water Conservation Specialist Karen Koppett noted.

The water district also has a free, do it yourself, water wise home survey kit, which will be mailed to you by Valley Water.

"This kit will help you be a water detective, figuring out where you're wasting water," Koppett said.

For residents who find they need new showerheads or faucet aerators, for example, the county will provide some for free.

In the next few weeks, Valley Water will also be rolling out an online shopping cart of useful free water conservation tools that can be mailed directly to one's home.

"And we offer a wide variety of rebate programs, tools and more for businesses to help them save water as well," Koppett said.

All programs and tools for both residents and businesses can be found at watersavings.org.

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