Community Corner
Crews Make Progress on Pipeline Repair, Santa Cruz Declares Local Emergency
BREAKING: The Soquel Creek Water District has helped provide residents with water.
Crews in Santa Cruz made significant progress on repairing a major drinking water pipeline overnight, but have urged residents to continue curtailing water use until further notice, city officials said today.
City officials declared a local emergency on Wednesday, citing the rain-related infrastructure damage threatening the city's water supply. Early Monday morning, the Newell Creek Pipeline, which transports water from the Loch Lomond Reservoir to the Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant, sprung a leak.
The pipeline, which the city relies on when powerful storms cause flowing sources of water to become too turbid to treat, started to spill 1,500 gallons of water per minute. That day, Santa Cruz Water Department officials urged their 96,000 customers to cut back on nonessential water use by 30 percent.
Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Between Monday and Tuesday, water use dropped from 5.7 million gallons to 5.3 million gallons, but the city was only able to produce 4.8 million gallons, including 1.1 million imported from the Soquel Creek Water
District.
Crews tapped water from Santa Cruz storage tanks, but only 16 million gallons of water are left in storage, city officials said. The first pipeline repair attempt on Tuesday was unsuccessful, so officials are asking residents to continue conserving water.
Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"Santa Cruz residents understand and respect the vulnerable nature of their water supply," Santa Cruz City Manager Martin Bernal said in a statement.
"We know that it's a lot to ask them to do more to save water, particularly during this time of year when there are not a lot of nonessential uses of water," Bernal said.
City officials asked residents to shower or bathe less often, to shut off the shower when lathering, to flush the toilet only when necessary and to use paper plates instead of washing dishes.
Residents have also been asked to postpone laundry, to use warm water on the stove instead of running it to get hot and not to use water outdoors for any reason.
By Bay City News
Photo via Shutterstock
