|
More water restrictions loom for Alpine area
ALPINE
— Tougher water conservation measures will be imposed soon by
the Padre Dam Municipal Water District in order to cope with
continuing drought, a district spokesman said at the Jan. 13 Hot
Topics Networking Business Breakfast of the Alpine & Mountain
Empire Chamber of Commerce.
Guest speaker Mike Uhrhammer, Padre Dam communications
manager, told Chamber members and guests at Fuller Hall in
Alpine that authorities “haven’t seen (water) levels this low
since 1976.”
“We’ll be going into a Level 2 drought condition
probably between April and June,” Uhrhammer said. “We need to
cut our water use by 20 percent.”
That will mean irrigating every other day, among other
measures, he said. Level 1 drought measures that were imposed
last year will continue as well.
Padre Dam will have to pay two to four times more for
any water used above the allocated amount when the Level 2
drought measures begin, Uhrhammer said.
“We’ll have to pass that (cost) on to customers,” he
said after his drought update. “The only way the district can
save is if the customers save.”
The district provides water to about 85 square miles of
East San Diego County with a population of 97,000 in Alpine,
Harbison Canyon, Crest, Blossom Valley, Santee and parts of
Lakeside and El Cajon.
Uhrhammer said the district is taking steps to make
water conservation as fair and painless as possible, but there
just hasn’t been enough rainfall locally or elsewhere to improve
the water supply outlook for Southern California.
The Padre Dam district will introduce a “conservation
rate” for customers in order to reduce the water use, the
spokesman said. He said rate notices will be sent out in
February.
“We’re going to give every customer a baseline water
allocation,” based on property size and average use of similar
customers over the years, Uhrhammer said. “We’re going to give
you a little over that.”
That will protect customers who have already been
saving water, he said.
There will be a public hearing about the rate notices
in March or April. If the rates are approved, Uhrhammer said,
the water conservation rates would go into effect in May.
Locally, he said, water is being bought to supplement
supplies, new water resources are being developed and Padre Dam
is working with the Helix water district to improve recycled
water production to 10 million gallons per day.
On a broader level, the lining of the All American
Canal to prevent leaking water brought in from the Colorado
River will be finished in 2010, Uhrhammer said.
At the start of his presentation a busy hum in the room
immediately stopped as Uhrhammer began flashing slides of deeply
depleted California reservoirs that supply water for this
county. Some formerly huge lakes are nearing bottom levels.
Although recent rains this season brought hope for
better water supplies, said Uhrhammer, the Sierra mountain
snowpack remains low and ecological concerns have brought more
water restrictions.
“Fifty percent of Southern California’s water supply is
going away in large part because of restrictions,” he said.
On the bright side, Uhrhammer noted that about 60
percent of Padre Dam’s customers already use extra methods to
save water and the district offers conservation rebates for
everyone.
The water district also has conservation programs,
landscape grants and vouchers to help improve water use, a water
savings performance program, and an artificial turf incentive
for customers.
Chamber members asked questions that included concerns
about the drought’s effect on ground water levels for wells,
development of new wells, possibilities for more water supply
and the levels at local reservoirs.
It will be 15-20 years before new sources such as a
water line around the California Delta and enough water
desalination plants might be available, Uhrhammer said.
“No matter how serious our water supply problems are,
we have to set up our delivery systems to protect the ecology of
our water sources,” he said.
 E-mail
the Editor
|
