San Jose Water adopts drought restrictions
The California Public Utilities Commission has given final approval for San Jose Water Company to impose the first drought restrictions in its service area since 2016, during California’s last major drought. The restrictions, approved late Wednesday, are the most stringent in any major city in California.
October storms helped the rainy season get off to a good start across Northern California. But those downpours weren’t enough to erase the past two very dry years: 80% of California remains in an extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly federal report.
Reservoir levels are low and groundwater tables are depleted because the past two years had the least rainfall in Northern California of any back-to-back period since 1976-77.
Here are the details of the new rules.
QAm
I affected?
A
If you are a singlefamily residential customer and receive your water from San Jose Water Co., the rules apply to you, effective immediately. San Jose Water is a private company that provides drinking water to 1 million people in San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno.
QWhat
do the rules do?
A
They set a monthly allotment — a water budget — with surcharges for those who use more than their allotted amount.
Residential customers are required to cut water use 15% from 2019 levels or pay $7.13 in surcharges for each unit of water above that amount.
Each unit of water is 100 cubic feet, or 1 CCF, which is 748 gallons — the standard measurement on most water bills.
QWhat’s
my allotment?
A
15% less than you used in the same month in 2019. It will be listed on your bill.
Q
But I’ve already conserved a lot.
A
The company says its rules reward people already conserving by setting a minimum monthly amount. If customers use the minimum amount or less, they won’t be required to cut 15% and won’t face surcharges. The minimum amount varies by month, from 6 CCF in April to 13 CCF in September, reflecting the need for different levels of landscape watering in different seasons.
The full table is at sjwater.com/drought.
Q
What about my neighbors, who have a big, green lawn?
A
They will be required to cut 15% from their 2019 use. So if they were using more water than most people back then, they will be able to continue doing that, minus 15%. In the last drought, the company imposed the identical water allocation for every residential customer. But residents in Monte Sereno, Saratoga and other places with large yards were hit with big bills and bitterly complained, so the company changed the rules this time.
Q Why is the company doing this?
A
It was told to by a government agency, the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The district is the wholesale water provider for the county. It sells water to local cities and water companies, including San Jose Water Company.
On June 9, the district declared a water shortage emergency and instructed cities and private water companies in the county to reduce water use 15% from 2019 levels, the most recent nondrought year.
Q Are people hitting that target?
A
No. In September, the most recent month for which data is available, Santa Clara County residents reduced water use just 7% compared with 2019 levels. San Jose Water’s customers cut by 9%.
Q
Are we going to run out of water?
A
Santa Clara County has significant groundwater resources. But it is in worse shape now than many other California counties for three reasons.
First, local reservoirs are very low. On Thursday, the Santa Clara Valley
Water District’s 10 reservoirs were just 11% full. Much of the October rain soaked into the ground. Significant runoff into reservoirs doesn’t occur until the ground is saturated, which will take more storms.
Second, last year federal dam safety regulators ordered the district’s largest reservoir, Anderson, near Morgan Hill, to be drained to rebuild its 70-year-old dam to reduce the risk of collapse in a major earthquake. The new dam won’t be finished until 2030.
Third, rainfall has been at historic lows. San Jose received only 5.33 inches from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. That’s one-third of normal and the least in 128 years of record-keeping.
Record hot weather, which scientists say is linked with climate change, is increasing the severity of droughts and wildfires. Reservoirs across Northern California are at low levels. As a result, federal and state agencies, and other water districts, have less water to sell to the Santa Clara Valley Water District and other urban areas and farms across the state.
Q
When will the rules end?
AIt depends how long the drought continues. The last one lasted five years, from 2012 to 2016, before huge storms in 2017 filled reservoirs across California. The state needs a very wet winter this year to do that again. California’s two largest reservoirs, Shasta Lake near Redding and Lake Oroville in Butte County, were 24% and 29% full, respectively, on Thursday.
Q
Is anyone else doing this?
A
Yes. Great Oaks Water Co., which provides water to 108,000 people in San Jose’s Blossom Valley, Santa Teresa, Edenvale, Almaden Valley and Coyote Valley areas, began similar rules July 13. Marin Municipal Water District will impose them Dec. 1. Santa Cruz is also considering water budgets and penalties. Other large Bay Area water agencies, including East Bay Municipal Utility District, Contra Costa Water District and San Francisco PUC, have more water in storage and are so far asking for voluntary conservation.