Drought Emergency: Public Invited to Water Board Meeting

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., the Dublin San Ramon Services District Board of Directors will be meeting at 7051 Dublin Blvd., Dublin, to discuss the District’s response to the drought emergency and invites the public to join the conversation. 

The meeting will be an opportunity to learn more about the seriousness of the drought and how it will affect District water customers. While no decisions will be made at this meeting, it will be an opportunity for customers to provide input on the following topics:

• Community Drought Emergency Declaration
• Specific goals for water use curtailment
• Water use restrictions, prohibitions and enforcement
• Water rates during the emergency period
• Affordability program for low water use customers
• Enhanced rebate programs to increase conservation
• Drought Response Action plan 

“It is important for Tri-Valley water customers to realize how seriously the drought is affecting this area,” says General Manager Bert Michalczyk, “especially the nature of the mandatory prohibitions on certain water uses and why those are necessary.”

In a normal year, the Zone 7 Water Agency (water wholesaler for the Tri-Valley) receives about 80 percent of its water from the State Water Project and 20 percent from a local underground aquifer. Zone 7 regularly replenishes the aquifer when surplus water is available. This year, the State of California has informed Zone 7 they will be receiving a zero percent allocation of water from the State Water Project and therefore must rely 100 percent upon the underground aquifer and a small amount of unused water from 2013 that is stored in Lake Del Valle. The net effect is that overall water use in the District will need to be reduced by 25 percent as compared to 2013 levels. However, more significantly, this will need to be achieved by way of a 50-60 percent curtailment of all outdoor water use in the District.

Recycled Water Saves Drinking Water

There is a little good news in this story. In the 1990’s, DSRSD partnered with East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to bring recycled water to the Tri-Valley and today about 20 percent of the water DSRSD supplies to its customers is irrigation water recycled from wastewater. 

“Every gallon of recycled water we serve is a gallon of potable water saved,” says Engineering Senior Manager Rhodora Biagtan. “This community is fortunate that the DSRSD Board was so forward thinking 20 years ago to bring recycled water to the Tri-Valley. A key aspect of the District’s drought response plan will be the aggressive expansion of the appropriate use of recycled water in the service area.”

—Information submitted by Dublin San Ramon Services District