Santa Cruz Water Department Considers Overuse Penalties And Promotes Watersmart Online Tool As Drought Impacts Available Supply

Press release from the City of Santa Cruz:

August 12, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Eileen Cross, Community Relations Specialist, 831.676.7090

SANTA CRUZ WATER DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS OVERUSE PENALTIES AND PROMOTES WATERSMART ONLINE TOOL AS DROUGHT IMPACTS AVAILABLE SUPPLY

Santa Cruz (August 10, 2021) – As drought continues to deplete reservoirs across California, the Santa Cruz Water Department reports that Loch Lomond, the city’s only drinking water reservoir, is now at just over 60% capacity while hundreds of Santa Cruz’s already efficient water users struggle to stay within their monthly water budgets.

Santa Cruz has been in a Stage 1 Water Shortage Warning since May 1. The Stage 1 Warning allocates each Santa Cruz household a water budget of approximately 42 gallons per person per day, compared to statewide average use of 80-100 gallons. Already one of the lowest water-using cities in the U.S., approximately one-third of single-family and one-fifth of multi-family customers exceeded their water budgets in the month of July.

The Water Department is closely monitoring supplies and water use, and following protocols and scientific standards established to address serious drought conditions. Without significant precipitation this fall, a Stage 2 Water Shortage may be declared within the next six months. Should a Stage 2 Water Shortage be declared, penalties will be applied to water bills for use above customer’s allocated amounts.

To help manage water use, the Water Department recommends that customers sign-up for WaterSmart, which is an online tool to help customers track their water use. The Department reports that 30% of customers have already signed up this summer.

“The best thing our customers can do right now to help them stay within their water budgets is to sign-up for WaterSmart,” Water Director Rosemary Menard said. “Using WaterSmart, customers can make sure they have their correct allocation, track their water use, set alerts for unusual usage, get personalized recommendations for water saving, and receive important notifications from the Water Department.” Customers can sign-up for WaterSmart on the Department’s website at https://santacruz.watersmart.com

Santa Cruz is dependent upon local rainfall for all of its water supply. The city received just over half of its average rainfall this year. When full, Loch Lomond holds just one year’s water supply for Santa Cruz water customers and is the city’s sole “water insurance policy” in times of drought.

“In the eight years I have been with the City, we have only had one ‘normal’ year of rainfall,” Menard said. “As climate change continues, extreme weather events are the new normal and we need to be better prepared to respond to these kinds of events. Clearly a sustainable water supply is something that must occur for us to have a water system that will meet our community’s needs into the future.”

The Department continues to make good progress on major infrastructure projects to help address challenges presented by extreme weather events, as well as to maximize every drop of water in the system. The Department will bring a plan for supply sustainability to City Council in 2022, including ideas recommended by the citizen-led Water Supply Advisory Committee in 2015.

ABOUT THE SANTA CRUZ WATER DEPARTMENT

This press release was produced by the City of Santa Cruz. The views expressed here are the author’s own.