Greenwood Creek springs eternal
Our Sacred Waters
On Saturday, I walked down to Greenwood Creek to have a look at the water level and stand under the alder trees. It was green and cool there so I found a mossy rock to sit on and watched the somewhat low but steady clear flow running toward the ocean.
I called Charlie Acker, head of the Elk County Water District (and a former writer of this column), afterward to ask his opinion of our water situation. “Greenwood Creek is the main tributary of our 15,000-acre watershed,” he said. “Everything has slowed way down — all the little springs that feed the creek are at a much lower flow than usual. It looks like November — we are a couple of months ahead of the ‘normal cycle.'”
After our chat, he sent me this follow-up:
“As we descend deeper into this very dry autumn, people are naturally concerned about their water whether it's from a spring or a well or if you live in one of the several public water supply districts along the coast. The water district in Elk has tapped into a plentiful aquifer. Elk depends on the underflow of Greenwood Creek, that is, the sand and gravels that shifts through the decades but are charged with water held up by bedrock. The creek runs on top of that.
If we can still see surface flow, we know the underflow is still there. Elk's water permit is for 42 gallons per minute. We have been using about 21 gallons per minute in the past month. There are two wells, either one of which can sustain the town which means we have a 100 percent surplus. The state, ever watchful of water uses and overuses, requires a ‘bypass' term to leave some water for the fishes. Elk has a limit of 27 gallons-per-minute before mandatory measuring takes place as the surface flow slows.
Thankfully we never reach that limit so don't have that stream monitoring requirement. Elkwater use has remained quite moderate thanks to the replacement of most of the leaking water mains (some over 60-years-old). Elk's new water meters read very low flows and record alerts for leaks. We are blessed with plenty, but conservation is always wise, and required.”
Thank you Charlie and to the rest of the Elk County Water District crew (Rosi, Rio, and Eric) for protecting and maintaining our precious resource; we are in good hands. And by the way, Charlie turned 70 on Tuesday, so be sure to wish him a happy birthday when you see him next!