By Kiley Russell. Bay City News.
California's drought may not be officially over completely, but Bay Area water districts are rescinding key provisions of their emergency drought rules.
On Tuesday, the governing boards of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Alameda County Water District voted to end many drought-related water restrictions.
The votes follow similar actions taken by the East Bay Municipal Utility District in March and the Contra Costa Water District on April 5.
Together, the five boroughs provide water to nearly 7 million Bay Area residents, either directly or through wholesale water contracts.
Valley Water's decision replaces its mandatory 15 percent reduction in water use for Santa Clara County residents with a voluntary 15 percent reduction goal and directs the agency to consider additional water conservation measures.
Valley Water's outdoor water waste rules, including a two-day per week watering limit for non-functional residential lawns, remain in effect.
“Water conservation should be a way of life,” Valley Water President John Varela said.
“California has experienced two multi-year droughts in the last decade. We cannot predict when the next drought will hit. That is why it is so important that we continue with our ways of saving water," said Varela.
The SFPUC, which provides water to nearly 3 million people in four counties, ended its drought emergency declaration Tuesday and raised its drought surcharge of up to 5 percent for drinking water and wastewater customers.
The SFPUC's voluntary 11 percent water use reduction remains in effect, as do its water waste rules, including a ban on hosing down sidewalks, using a hose without a self-closing valve, and watering inside driveways. two days after a storm, among other things.
"Recent storms have made this year one of the wettest on record and snowpack has reached record levels," said SFPUC General Manager Dennis Herrera.
"While these storms may have ended the last drought in much of California, climate change is bringing whiplash to the weather," Herrera explained. "Rapid swings between extreme weather mean long-term vulnerabilities for our water supply."
The Alameda County Water District Board of Directors rescinded its drought surcharge effective April 1 and voted Tuesday to end its emergency water shortage ordinance and drought restrictions once the Water Control Board State Water Resources finalizes its emergency regulations, which are set to expire in June, according to district officials.
“Drought challenged our state for several years, but our customers committed to conservation, and in 2022, they saved enough water for 13,000 homes for one year. By conserving and improving the water supply, we can lift the restrictions,” said Paul Sethy, ACWD Board Chairman.
The decision ends restrictions on outdoor watering, the use of decorative fountains, draining and filling swimming pools, and other outdoor water uses.
EBMUD's Board of Directors voted unanimously to end its 8 percent drought surcharge effective March 1, to remove penalties for excessive water use, and to move from a mandatory 10 percent conservation order to a voluntary water use reduction goal of 10 percent.
The EBMUD board could end other restrictions later this month pending a review of the district's final water supply report for the year.
At its April 5 meeting, the Contra Costa Water District board voted to end most water use bans passed in April 2022 and remove a 15 percent surcharge that went into effect in July. .
Some of the restrictions being ended include the requirement that restaurants only serve water on request, hotels only wash towels and linens on request, construction sites use only non-potable water for dust control, and that new irrigation had to be drip or micro-spray.
All of the water districts' moves are in response to Governor Gavin Newsom's March 24 decision to end many of the state's emergency drought provisions he signed into law in April 2021.
While the US Drought Monitor shows that drought conditions no longer exist for most of California, including the entire Bay Area, Newsom stopped short of officially declaring an end to the drought and many state rules Water conservation regulations remain in effect, including a rule requiring large institutions and businesses to refrain from watering ornamental grass, as well as a ban on using water to clean sidewalks and driveways.
In addition, rules that allow California's water managers to more easily release water from reservoirs in order to recharge the state's severely overdrafted and depleted groundwater basins were not removed.
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