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"SANTA MONICA WATER. LOCALLY SOURCED. BETTER THAN BOTTLED!"
City water is now used at all City meetings and events.
Photo credit Thomas Poon, City Water Resources Department
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What Say
You?
Water Quality and Santa
Monica Water Independence
SUSAN CLOKE,
Columnist
Water is the issue. We are in an extended drought. The City is focused on water. Setting and meeting water conservation
standards; creating opportunities for public reuse of stormwater through
regulations, incentives and rebates; meeting the Council mandated requirement
for water self-sufficiency by 2020; and water quality are the goals.
History
Many of us learned our Angelino water history
from the Jack Nicholson / Faye Dunaway movie “Chinatown.” Water wars, and the taking by force of
the Owen’s Valley water to satisfy the water needs of the burgeoning city of
Los Angeles are the back-story to the growth of the City of Los Angeles.
Santa Monicans have a different history. In 1917 Santa Monica voted against
annexation with Los Angeles even as the City worried about water supplies.
And a very Santa Monica story goes with that
vote: “When an Annexation leader
claimed he had had no water in his home the opposition arranged for the fire department
to go to his home and record on camera as the fireman took a 100 foot stream of
water from the fire hydrant in front of his house.” (Stella Zadeh)
It didn’t hurt that many Santa Monicans were
connected to the new film industry and that they filmed the 100’ stream of
water going from the hydrant to the house as part of the anti-annexation
campaign.
It was the 1917 vote that kept Santa Monica an
independent city. Now the goal is
to achieve water independence.
Currently the City supplies 60 – 65% of its own
water needs and buys the rest from the MWD. (Metropolitan Water District) This
is a steadily changing number as the City moves toward the 2020 date for water
self-sufficiency.
Quality
City water now exceeds the water quality
standards set by both the State of CA Department of Drinking Water and the
Federal EPA. This is due to the
fact that, as of 2010, City water is treated by reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis is a process for
cleaning water which forces the water through micron sized pores to capture the
smallest molecules of contaminates.
Usage
“Water usage in the City is driven by the
commercial sector,” said Gil Borboa, the Water Resources Manager for the
City. “We’re really a small city
of fewer than 90,000 residents, but on any given summer day we often have a
population of as high as 300,000 people.”
Borbora added, “Every customer, both residential
and commercial will be asked to reduce their water usage to 80% of what they
used in the same month of 2013.”
Water rationing, as some are labeling it, is
“really a misnomer” said Borboa.
“What we have is a proposal for a mandatory 20% reduction in water use
from the base year of 2013. This proposal will go to Council in January and
start in April, if approved.”
Residential homeowners who have already changed
their gardens to water- conserving gardens and reduced their total water use to
22 HFC (hundred cubic feet) or less per billing cycle will not be required to
reduce their usage. Usage information is on the City Utilities bill.
Santa Monica also provides grants, rebates and
incentives to help homeowners convert to water conserving gardens and to the
use of cisterns and other stormwater capture and reuse devices. www.smgov.net/water
“Conservation is only part of the answer,” said
Borboa. “We also need to increase
our water supply. Most of our
current water supply comes from the Charnock wells. About 35% is imported Northern CA water bought from the MWD.
“Our current water usage city-wide is about
13,500 Acre Feet. (‘AF’. An AF is 326,000 gallons or the equivalent of a
football field covered with 1 foot of water.) The 2020 demand is anticipated to be approximately 15,490
AF.
Water
Independence
“We
are now pumping 9000 AF. For
self-sufficiency we will need an additional 5000 AF of supply and, at the same
time, the conservation of 1500 AF.
The 5000 AF will come from three new wells, currently proposed for the
Olympic median, and the use of the planned conservation measures,” said Borboa.
“If
we do both we will be able to meet the total gap between what we use and what
we need to be able to supply by 2020.
“Our groundwater assessment for the aquifer
which supplies Santa Monica shows 300,000 AF of storage in our basins. Basins
are recharged by precipitation and deleted by pumping.
“Santa Monica has gone through a series of
droughts in its history and we don’t take our groundwater supplies for
granted,” said Borboa.
The City is also considering rate increases and
is expected to hear the proposed rate increases this December. “Rate increases are necessary,”
said Borboa, “because the Water Resources Agency is funded through the sale of
water. We will need to pay for
ongoing operations and maintenance; the replacement of infrastructure built
over 50 years ago; running our water treatment plant; digging new wells to meet
the goal of water self-sufficiency; and running the water quality lab.
“Water rate increases to be heard by the Council
are proposed at 9% for the first year and 13% for each of four subsequent
years.”
Santa Monica currently draws its groundwater
from the Arcadia, Olympic, and Charnock
basins. Basins that the
City has traditionally used.
In 1923 the city voted to build the Arcadia
plant, to build a five million gallon reservoir at Mount Olivette, and to
purchase water-rich land on Charnock Road.
In 1948 Santa Monicans voted to replace the
previous mount Olivette reservoir and to fund well construction under the San
Vicente median. In 1958 the City
voted for a bond to construct a 25 million gallon reservoir at the Riviera
Country Club.
Meeting
the Goal
“The continuation of groundwater management in
conjunction with conservation and stormwater reuse are all necessary to ensure
water self-sufficiency,’ said Borboa, “and we’re well on our way.”
I say, conserve water, plant a stormwater
garden, be a steward of the environment.
Drink Santa Monica Water. Here’s to your health!
What Say You?
