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Anticipated drier weather in 2020 will increase demand to use more stored water in the Tri-Valley than usual, according to a recently released annual sustainability report from the Livermore-Amador Valley Water Supply and Flood Protection Zone 7 Water Agency. The yearly water supply review helps agency officials plan and evaluate their level of sustainability for the future.
However, Zone 7 told the Weekly, “There is no need for concern about using more water from storage this year,” adding the agency “strategically stores water during wet years for use during dry years such as this year, so this falls within Zone 7’s standard operation.”
“Use of storage during normal years also regularly occurs as part of Zone 7’s water management strategy; for example, groundwater, which is stored surface water, regularly supplements surface water from the Delta over the course of the year.”
The amount of storage use in the report “is a conservative estimate” that Zone 7 said means to “illustrate the robustness of our water supply.” A total of 38,300 acre-feet of water is expected to be drawn from Zone 7’s stored supplies. Officials added, “the actual use of stored water would decrease if the Department of Water Resources increases the State Water Project supply to Zone 7, or if the public uses less water than requested by the retailers.”
In total, the assumed use includes 10,000 acre-feet of local basin groundwater, 8,000 acre-feet of Lake del Valle water, 9,400 acre-feet of water from a Kern County groundwater bank, and 10,800 acre-feet from the San Luis Reservoir. Each year, Zone 7 uses about 25,000 acre-feet of stored water from the local basin, Lake Del Valle, and San Luis Reservoir. This excludes water from the Kern County groundwater banks that are normally used in drier years.
The Bay Area had its first rain-free February since the Civil War, according to the National Weather Service. Though the following month was dubbed “Miracle March” for its multiple wet days, the precipitation at the time wasn’t enough to make up for the rainfall deficit that still exists.
“Extended dry conditions would cause stored water levels to decrease over time,” but Zone 7 said they plan to “manage water supplies with the goal of maintaining long-term water supply reliability.”
By the end of 2024, the agency currently estimates “that storage could decrease by about 64,700 (acre-feet)…if next year is critically dry (drier than this year) and the following three years resume to normal conditions.”
“Under these conditions, purchasing additional water supplies and increasing water efficiency and conservation in the Tri-Valley would result in a smaller decrease in stored water,” officials added.
Zone 7 is currently pursuing several options for water supply and storage to help maintain the region’s long-term supply reliability, including the Delta Conveyance Project, Sites Reservoir, desalination of brackish water from the Bay, and potable reuse. Storage options the agency is looking into include Los Vaqueros Reservoir and Sites Reservoir, which provides both new supply and storage.
I am not sure about those predictions. I also predict people shower less during lockdown, and water usage might be lower.
This is the same story from Zone 7 that they put out during the last drought – we are studying this and that – but they never DO anything except raise salaries and the price we pay for their terrible quality water . They are the biggest do-nothing agency in California!