Rain poured on Santa Barbara a week ago, and more is expected later this week, but the city of Santa Barbara wants residents to remember one thing:
“The city remains in a drought emergency,” said Kelley Dyer, water supply manager.
Dyer presented her monthly drought report to the City Council on Tuesday.
So far this water year, the city is ahead of the previous year. Gibraltar Reservoir has received 15 inches of rain; Lake Cachuma has gotten 11 inches and 10 inches have fallen on downtown Santa Barbara.
“This is slightly above normal,” Dyer said. “We are hoping for additional storms to come our way.”
City residents are using the same amount of water today that they did in 1958, when the population was half of what it is today. City officials say conservation programs, efficient plumbing codes, and greater landscape design standards have helped lead to conservation.
Santa Barbara residents conserved by 30 percent in December and conserved by 29 percent year over year.
Trhe city is in the eighth consecutive year of the drought. The prior seven years are the driest years on record.
Dyer said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts a chance of a weak El Niño developing during the winter of 2019, so conservation remains a top priority.
“We’re still in a drought,” Dyer said. “We haven’t seen the increase in Cachuma that we’d like.”
The city expects to have enough water to meet the demand through 2020, using a combination of supplies from Lake Cachuma, the State Water Project, water stored in Gibraltar Reservoir, groundwater, desalination, recycled water and conservation.
City officials plan to reassess the water supply strategy this spring, at the end of the rainy season, to come up with a plan through 2021.
“We’ll keep our fingers crossed that we get some good rain,” Dyer said.
Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon said the city staff is taking good care of the city’s water resources.
“We’re in really good hands with your carefull planning,” Sneddon said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
