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As of July 1, the 581-page San Benito Urban Area Water Management and Water Shortage Contingency Plans, developed by environmental consultants Todd Groundwater, have been successfully submitted to the state of California by the Water Resources Association of San Benito County for approval and acceptance.
The two documents cover a 20-year planning horizon and outline how imported surface water from various reservoirs will be balanced with local groundwater and what infrastructure improvements might be needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the communities within the Water Resources Association.
That includes the city of Hollister and the Sunnyslope and San Benito County Water districts. It also encompasses a recently formalized addition, the city of San Juan Bautista, occasioned by that city’s upcoming connection to the Sunnyslope facility.
Updated every five years, the plan is mandated by the 1983 Urban Water Management Planning Act, which applies to water suppliers serving more than 3,000 connections or providing more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually.
Submission of the plans is an eligibility requirement for various relevant state loans and grants.
San Benito County Water District General Manager Dana Jacobson said the state prescribes the plan’s format, and the plan “checks all the boxes,” making the finished product more efficient for the cities and districts involved.
“The heart of the document,” Jacobson said, “is really an analysis of how much water we have and how much we think we’re going to need in the future, as well as where we are with both of those things under drought conditions.”
The good news, he said, is that the area currently has a sufficient water supply due to several factors, including water demand not rising as quickly as anticipated and more widespread conservation measures adopted by residents and businesses.
Jacobson partly credits measures put forth by SB X7-7, the Water Conservation Act of 2009, which mandated a minimum 20% reduction in California’s per capita urban water use by 2020.
He said that voluntary reductions in water use by local users accounted for a large share of the decrease. Hollister’s actual usage of 114 gallons per capita per day is five gallons below the target; Sunnyslope’s 119 gallons per capita/day is below its 143-gallon target.
“The conservation measures are working,” he said. “We are using less water than we did 10, 20, even 30 years ago, which is amazing.”
In the report, this translates to a projection that water demand will be met in all normal years and in all single dry years until 2045. After that, Jacobson said, there will be an adequate supply, but a possible 13% shortfall in water quality.
The plan utilizes a conservative 80/20 blending target—80% imported water to 20% groundwater—which may not be sustainable in the future.
“You never know what’s going to happen with climate change,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be water available, because our groundwater basin is pretty large. We just wouldn’t meet the blending targets that we want.”
Imported water is currently stored in the San Justo Reservoir, with some water also sourced from the San Luis Reservoir. There is also a limited amount of recycled water produced at the city’s water reclamation plant, which is used only at Brigantino Park.
“The imported water is variable,” Jacobson said. “But we do have quite a bit reserved in the groundwater supply. And so when things get tough, we can rely on the stored groundwater. But there’s a trade-off there in quality, and that impacts wastewater treatment as well.”
To mitigate that, the district has been developing the Accelerated Drought Response Project, which captures surplus imported water during wet years and pumps it into aquifers for storage and eventual recovery of approximately a year’s supply.
“We want to reduce the variability in supply,” Jacobson said, “by storing water locally when we have an abundance. Some years, we don’t have a use for all the rainwater, and if we just leave it over in the San Luis Reservoir, we basically lose it.”
Other priorities set forth in the plans include upgrading the West Hills Water Treatment Plant and addressing water quality issues caused by high mineral content and the use of salt-based water softeners. Increasing aquifer size and investing in the enlargement of San Luis Reservoir are also being considered.
To help manage a projected 3.5% annual population growth rate, Jacobson said that the district implemented a “capacity fee” last year, which is paid by developers to ensure that “new growth will be paying for any expansion of our water supply that’s necessary.”
While the infrastructure projects are critical to drought management, Jacobson said the plan also emphasizes the association’s current conservation programs, such as turf rebates, low-flow toilet installations and water softener buybacks to maintain long-term water sustainability.
If drought conditions force usage patterns to change, the plan includes a six-step plan of action:
- Stage 1 (Up to 10% reduction): voluntary conservation measures
- Stage 2 (Up to 20% reduction): mandatory restrictions, such as limiting outdoor watering to specific days/times
- Stage 3 (20-30% reduction): increased enforcement and potential drought rate implementation
- Stages 4, 5, & 6 (30% to over 50% reduction): increasingly severe restrictions, including bans on refilling pools and potential water service disconnections for violators
“I don’t ever expect that we will be in the worst stages,” Jacobson said, “just as a result of the healthy groundwater supply that we have. But then again, we will certainly always see reductions in the availability of imported water.”
Jacobson said it is important for people to become more aware of water supply issues during dry and drought seasons and to learn how they can continue to cut their own usage in the future.
“We have trouble getting out the word on what we’re doing and why,” he said. “There’s not much engagement at public meetings, and people feel things are just happening to them, even though our process is transparent. Getting people plugged in, that’s the biggest thing.”
Related document
The San Benito Urban Area Water Management and Water Shortage Contingency Plans
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