City keeping its water restrictions in place even as Cal Water eases its grip
While the state’s largest water company loosened its water use restrictions earlier this month, Bakersfield officials made it clear on Friday they intend to stay the current course.
In the city’s weekly newsletter, officials assured residents they are still in stage two of their water savings program, after some customers of the city’s water service provider, Bakersfield Domestic Water System, “inadvertently” received a postcard from California Water Service that said otherwise.
Decisions by Cal Water don’t affect residents who use the city’s water system, which provides water to about 40% of Bakersfield residents, city spokesperson Joe Conroy said.
Cal Water, which dispenses water to the remaining 60%, sent out fliers last week, sometime after their May 8 decision to roll back water restrictions due to improved drought conditions statewide. The change was effective immediately, meaning water usage is only reduced by 10% with outdoor watering only between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. as their sole restriction.
“But we still encourage people to use water wisely,” said Yvonne Kingman, Cal Water’s director of corporate communications.
The rollback can be overturned by the state’s Public Utilities Commission, which has a 30-day grace period to review the decision and make any amendments. Kingman said she doesn’t expect any changes by the state commission, citing changes caused by atmospheric river systems earlier this year that boosted storage volumes and inundated communities with large amounts of surface water.
“We don’t expect an issue, as more
and more providers are starting to adjust their levels,” Kingman said.
While California is still reeling from record rainfall and preparing for potential floods caused by fattened snow caps, it joined adjacent states in agreeing to reduce reliance on the shrinking Colorado River. In all, the state is left wondering whether to expect a drought or surplus in the coming year.
“This year has been one of the wettest on record, with a snowpack that has reached historic levels,” Cal Water President and CEO Martin A. Kropelnicki said. “However, we must remember that it follows three of the driest years on record.”
According to the city, any decision by Bakersfield’s Domestic Water System to move away from Stage 2 would need to come from the Water Board and ratification of the entire City Council. At a water advisory meeting in April, council members reviewed whether to roll back restrictions, but it’s unknown whether any new action was taken. “Based on (that) direction from a recent Water Board meeting, we will remain at Stage 2, keeping those restrictions in place for DWS customers,” Conroy said. “It would require the Water Board to make that determination and then the Council to approve moving to Stage 1.”
The city’s water service reportedly saved 16.5% between October 2022 and
March 2023, compared to the same time frame in 2019. Despite a sizable reduction, and likely with weather conditions uncertain going forward, the city will keep its leash tight, just to be safe.