The Contra Costa Water District has called a stage 1 water shortage and is asking customers to voluntarily cut water use by 10 percent.
The district’s board of directors announced the move after its Wednesday meeting. It also said water stored in Los Vaqueros Reservoir, which is at about 77 percent capacity, will help meet district demands this year.
The district gets its water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and serves approximately 500,000 customers in central and east Contra Costa County.
The most recent rainy season was the state’s driest since 1977. With rising temperatures, a greater-than-normal amount of the area’s usual Sierra snow runoff has been absorbed into the dry ground.
In May, CCWD was told by the federal government its water allocation from the Central Valley Project was reduced and the district would receive only enough to meet public health and safety needs.
“Our customers are efficient water users and wise investors in water storage,” board president Lisa Borba said in a statement. “Asking customers to voluntarily conserve about 10 percent is appropriate in a year this dry. Without the water stored in Los Vaqueros for drought supply, we would be having a different conversation.”
The board on Wednesday unanimously approved moving CCWD into the first level of its water shortage contingency plan, which calls for 10 percent voluntary conservation. The board also said water waste provisions adopted during the last drought remain in place and will be enforced to prevent wasteful use.
To see available district resources and rebates concerning reduction, go to ccwater.com/drought.
This should include the city of Concord.As I drive through Concord the water is being wasted on watering city landscaping during the day and running off into the streets.
For years the City of Concord has been watering the field behind El Dorado School at 11am. You’re not supposed to water lawns after 9am according to the water company.
A lot of our parks are irrigated by well water, and water trucks irrigating median landscaping use recycled. We should be vigilant for broken sprinkler heads and report them, but it is unnecessary and wasteful yo allow landscaping yo die when we thankfully have plenty of water to get through the summer and refill Los Vaqueros next spring.
Build some reservoirs, end of the problem. But Gavin won’t let them.
Is there really a water shortage, or is it an overpopulation problem?
Did your leaders show due diligence in planning for the future as they supported rapid growth and the massive construction frenzy that followed since the 1970’s?
Our houses have all had water saving devices installed from years past, from low flow toilets to low flow shower heads and everything else in Between. It’s getting harder and harder to cut water usage. These idiots in charge of the state need to add a lot more storage or cut the building boom and over population of a arid state that cannot support a 40 million plus population
i was just about to wash my car
To paraphrase another commentator: If there’s enough water to grow marijuana, there’s enough water for my lawn.
Isn’t that the truth.
Speaking of that did you see all of the green houses growing weed in the desert that got busted? How in the world did the cartels think they would get away with that. A billion dollars worth.
Well it seems we have been here before
A mismanaged or deliberate effect of a democrat run state and interior management led us here before
And what did we get for reducing our usage down to just under 30%
Fines for not being at or near your neighbors usage
And after the imposed drought
we got a rate hike because we conserved to much
as yet again
The democrats controlled state and infrastructure mismanaged yet again
Giving money to people to axe their lawns and place rocks
And we got another bill hike
Up 20% after all said and done
But ask any dem and they will say it’s only pennies
Or reduce or put rock or move
Last I saw in just bezerkley
Oak town
Pittsburgh and Antioch
And st
There is no way those places can afford the hike
Oh wait that’s right they don’t the under earning system suckers get a reduced bill and fees and no balance hikes
We hard working actual Americans pay for them
As the state government pushes to change all jobs to union and push the self employed Americans who want more than being a socialist cog
Get hacked at the knees and have our childlren forced into socialist propaganda education
And now they want the children segregated
Wait what
So Jesse who had a dream
Is now being mocked by his own people l
as they take money from dem politicians
to rid his fight for equality
It’s funny how the socialist teachings being carved into our children
are hate rich white men or any white man
Unless they are a dem politician
It’s funny how people complain but offer no solutions. It’s easy to quarterback from the couch. You’re just complaining, offer a solution and run for a seat. Get out and vote. This is a blue state, you support red, go to Texas or another southern state. You have choices.
I left California. That makes a 100% reduction. I’ll sell my share to the highest bidder.
If left California you don’t have a share
I bid two fiddy
Ain’t gonna happen here..
We have 4 seperate lawns to water, a pool and hot tub and 8 different drip system valves that water 5 days a week and all require the same amount of water all summer long and that ain’t gonna change.
We already had half a dozen knocks on our door from the water district and other companies telling us we need to get rid of our lawns and all our shrubs and trees because of the water shortage and they can help us do it and get rebates, fat chance that’s gonna happen.
Oh we also got a email and a phone call from PG&E saying we are way over our electrical usage which has put us into tier three big time and I quickly explained to them I do not care I’ll pay it.
Based
Damn right based..
Not carin!
No way. Gavin caused this problem by draining the reservoirs. Let him cut back. I refuse.
“Driest since 1977…”. I lived thru that.
.
Climate and droughts are cyclical. No need for hysteria pushed by scientists who pander fear in order to get Federal research grants (free money).
.
I don’t understand why we need cut back our water use if CA continues to build. Clearly there is plenty of water.
If there’s water to grow pot, there’s water for my lawn!!!
I feel another rate hike coming to a house hold near you…
The problem is not that there isn’t enough water.
The problem is with who controls the water.
The Federal Government controls a great deal of the water we used to consider ours.
The State controls a great deal of our water, gotta save that bait.
State, County, and City grounds are green and lush.
Farmers can’t grow crops.
Our lawns are all dying.
And the Government works for you?
Ya, right.
Many of those State, County and City grounds are
irrigated with recycled water. I take a 275 gallon
container down to Central San and they will give you
all the water you need to keep your lawn, shrubs and
trees alive.
Saw bumper sticker once with solution,
Save Water fight forest fires with Delta Smelt
Love it!!
If there is water for weed, there is enough water for my weeds.
Stop building these luxury apartments and houses snd I’m sure the State wouldn’t have to decrease water usage.
CA is ranking 49th in housing per capita, stop building you say? Get out of here with that, we need 30 million homes in the next 7 years to meet demand. Which means we need more water.
Brig. It’s people like you that are the problem with this state. All blue or nothing and no sense of what it takes to make a state work or operate in a sensible and safe manner for all. This states population is almost already over what it is capable of maintaining with its resources. But in your Blue mind we should build more and add more thirsty houses that will have no source for water. Peer mindless thinking
Then Brig will complain we’re encroaching upon wild animal’s domain when a mountain lion eats some kid for breakfast.
We use 50% of the water available in California. Of that 50% Residential water usage only makes up 10%, 80% is used for agriculture, and the last 10% is used for managing wetlands. .Stop blaming population growth for the increase in water. In fact, residential water usage has been declining since the last drought. It’s the farms that need to reduce their water usage by being more efficient and not planting water intensive crops.
And no, we can’t just divert all the environmental water over to our use. We would destroy other industries, habitat for native animals, and further deteriorate our source for usable water. For example, if we did divert more water for use we would see salinity levels rise in the delta and eventually into the Sacramento-San Joaquin rivers which would destroy the water source. Now, could a portion of this be diverted to our use? Perhaps.
Regardless, we need to become more efficient with our agricultural water usage. This is a serious issue that will only get worse with climate change.
@Pyrrhus
Thanks, it’s refreshing (and unfortunately rare) to read an intelligent entry on this blog.
Really? In rebuttal the California Water Commission (cwc.ca.gov paper Water Use in California) says water use is 50% environmental, 40% agriculture, and 10% residential/urban. And since the environmental is just that being managed as in streams and lakes and not being used, really the ag and residential part needs to be grossed up so Ag is 80% and residential 20%. Your numbers are saying residential is 10% of 50%, or then 5% total. The government says it is 20%, and you are saying 5%. What is your source?
Wonder if this will be the year Fish n Game starts issuing Salt Water fishing tags for The Delta ? ? ?
“A desalination plant outside Antioch is set to start operation in a couple years but previous California cities’ experiences with de-salted seawater are mixed. … (7-1-21)”
https://tinyurl.com/kf2snzxs
Can only hope decision was a good one, unlike many past poorly thought out decisions made by those running that city.