St. Helena Ends Phase II Water Emergency, Water-Use Penalties

ST. HELENA, CA — The City of St. Helena announced the end of its phase II water emergency and the water-use penalties that came along with it.

“Mother Nature has been kind to us and, as a result, our Bell Canyon Reservoir has started to spill,” St. Helena Director of Public Works Mark Rincón-Ibarra said. “With a full reservoir and the confidence we can meet projected demand beyond the next rainy season, we can end water usage penalties but not our conservation efforts.”

Effective Tuesday, the city will transition from its Phase II water emergency to its less onerous Phase I water emergency requirements.

Water penalties will not be applied to water usage in excess of Phase II water allocations for the month of December.

Phase I still calls for continuing water conservation practices, city officials said.

“It is important to remain vigilant due to operational challenges we are experiencing at our Rutherford Pump Station (RPS) which are temporarily impacting our ability to draw water from Napa, and the fact that other California reservoirs remain below historic averages for this time of year,” Rincón said. “Continued water conservation will help us navigate this challenge as well.”

Mayor Geoff Ellsworth said community conservation efforts have saved more than 100 million gallons of water year over year.

“It is remarkable how much water has been saved and I’m so proud that our community rose to meet this challenge and conserve water at a critical time,” Ellsworth said. “We learned many lessons from this experience which will improve our ability to navigate future water supply challenges.”

Rincón credited the St. Helena City Council with improving the city’s water availability forecasting by adopting an urgency ordinance in July.

“When the Council took action to better understand our water availability by looking beyond the next rainy season, this also challenged our staff to refine our forecasting efforts," Rincón said. "Today, we are using this longer-term horizon and considering a number of variables to better anticipate and adjust to water availability challenges, and sharing good news as early as appropriate.”