The rain may be falling, but the City of Santa Barbara’s water resources manager didn’t mince words Tuesday, letting residents know the drought is far from over.
Joshua Haggmark presented more potential water-use and development restrictions to the Santa Barbara City Council during a monthly drought update.
He asked the council to provide general direction to staff so proper regulations could be in place if the city moves from its Stage Two drought status to Stage Three next year.
All council members seemed to agree with possibly suspending approvals of new private groundwater-well permits and with turf-water restrictions, but officials were divided on whether to prohibit building new pools or issuing building permits for projects with net new water use (with some exceptions).
November’s water reduction was on par with the required 20 percent, Haggmark said, but moderate rainfall this month hasn’t helped. He said the city needed at least eight more inches before it could see any “meaningful runoff.”
Because of that uncertainty, staff planned for persistent conditions with capital projects, such as accelerating city groundwater well replacements and preparing to reactivate the city’s desalination facility — a decision that could come in April.
Haggmark said staff was working to apply for a $40 million State Revolving Fund loan for the project.
To postpone desalination, “we need Gibraltar (reservoir) to fill and spill,” he said. “That would be a good indicator. For drought, we need Cachuma (Lake) to fill and spill in order for it to be over.”
To put the situation in context, Haggmark said Lake Cachuma contains 200,000 acre-feet of water when full, which is about 50 times larger than Gibraltar.
He estimated the city would continue meeting recycled water demand and purchasing water statewide.
“Rain on, sprinklers off” was the message from Madeline Ward, acting water resources manager.
One inch of rain could delay watering landscaping up to one week for thirsty plants, she said, and three weeks for most others.
The city estimates 50 percent of all water is used outdoors, with half of that for residential or commercial turf, said Ward, who emphasized community open spaces could be exempt from restrictions.
Employing low-water using sprinklers instead of ones that mist could also save about 20 percent per site, she said.
Phasing voluntary landscape referral, mandatory landscape referral and a partnership with Santa Barbara County to apply development restrictions to out-of-city water customers were other options.
Council members were skeptical of the impact the annual average of 15 new pools would make on water supply.
Staff said new development is approximately 1 percent of the city’s drought water supply projection (11,440 acre feet per year) for the next three years.
“The more we save now, the more options we have later, isn’t that true?” Mayor Pro Tempore Cathy Murillo said, receiving confirmation. “I don’t have faith that things are going to get that much better.”
Councilman Gregg Hart said restrictions should be based on increasing supply numbers.
“I discourage policy based on symbolism,” he said. “Fifteen pools a year isn’t a big number.”
Most council members agreed the more conservation the better, asking staff to come back in February with modified Stage Two restrictions and Stage Three recommendations.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.