Supplies can now meet demands for several years
The Cachuma Reservoir, for all intents and purposes, is full to the point of potentially spilling over, said Dakota Corey, the new Santa Barbara water supply and services manager.
Last week the Santa Barbara City Council voted to terminate the state of emergency prompted by the huge rainstorm that dumped 5 inches of water on Santa Barbara in two days, flooding the streets and clogging them with debris.
On Tuesday, the council focused on the flip side of the heavy rainfall: The city’s available water supplies are now sufficient to meet demands for at least the next three years.
Council members heard this from city water officials who provided a water supply update that showed just how big a dent the massive January storm made in the state’s drought status, improving it from”extreme” to “abnormally dry.”
“It’s much, much better than it was three weeks ago,” Joshua Haggmark, the city’s water resources manager, said.
“We went from a very dry state to a much improved, wetter state,” added Dakota Corey, the city’s new water supply and services manager.
The city-owned and operated Gibraltar Reservoir, which ended Water Year 2022 at a below average 68% full, now stands at 272% above average, she said. “It’s full and began spilling over on Jan. 5.”
The Cachuma Reservoir, for all intents and purposes, is full to the point of potentially spilling over, Ms. Corey said.
The city-owned and operated Gibraltar Reservoir, which ended Water Year 2022 at a below average 68% full, now stands at 272% above average.
“Anytime it’s spilling, we get free water because that’s not deducted from our Cachuma allocation,” she said.
Just last year, the city was only allowed to use 5% of its maximum allocation of 3,300 acre feet, but now that figure has jumped to 30%, or 990 acre feet, she said.
At the same time, because of the rain, the city now can rely more on its Gibraltar Reservoir and other water resources to meet its needs instead of relying so much on Lake Cachuma like it did last year.
This means the city of Santa Barbara will be able to “bank” the extra water it doesn’t need from Lake Cachuma for later use if necessary.
In fact, the city now has so much “banked” water on hand in the San Luis Reservoir that it’s been able to pay back all its “water debt” to the state, and in the future will be able to purchase water outright if necessary instead of having to go back into debt, Ms. Corey said.
“The community is using its water resources very efficiently,” she said. “We have one of the most diverse water supply portfolios in the state. We’re not stuck relying on one.”
Desalinated water continues to play a critical part in the city’s water supply portfolio, Ms. Corey said, adding that with all the extra water on hand, the city was able to shut down the desalination plant for a few months for cleaning and maintenance. It should resume operations on April 1.
All this, plus increases in groundwater resources and recycled water usage, means there’s nothing but “good news” ahead water-wise for the city, she said.
“Put it all together and in short, the city has plenty of water to meet supplies for at least the next three years,” she said. “We could have more dry years to come, but even under those assumptions, we have plenty of water.”
Nevertheless, Ms. Corey still urged residents to continue their water conservation efforts.
Councilmember Mike Jordan suggested it might be a good time to consider expanding desalination efforts. “We should use this opportunity to set up for the next drought time.”
Mr. Haggmark agreed another drought could creep up on the city fast.
“We want to finish doing our planning and be ready for that by continuing to bolster our local supplies,” he said.
Councilmember Eric Friedman questioned the wisdom of building new housing units for future residents while still asking residents who are here now to continue conserving water.
“There’s a disconnect here,” he said. “It’s the No. 1 question on water I get from the public.”
Ms. Corey noted that most new housing involves large multi-family buildings that provide residents with the latest, very efficient fixtures that use less water, and use relatively small amounts of water for landscaping.
All in all, council members were very impressed, not just with Tuesday’s presentation but with how much better Santa Barbara’s water supply situation is today.
“It’s quite amazing what a few months make,” Councilmember Friedman said.
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