KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Santa Clarita Valley water officials are expecting more restrictions as a result of Gov. Jerry Brown’s drought declaration Wednesday.
Sponsored Articles
But the details of how that might affect local users beyond the three-day-a-week watering schedule and potential fines already facing local water ratepayers probably won’t be clear until later this month, an official said Thursday.
“The devil will be in the details as the situation unfolds, and the state Water Resources Control Board (WRCB) examines specific measures to implement the governor’s executive order,” said Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, which retails water to the Santa Clarita Valley. “With the state’s snowpack at an all-time low, and no end in sight for this historic drought, all of us have to expect even more restrictive limits on water use.”
Castaic Lake Water Agency officials document the Castaic Lake reservoir’s water level throughout the year, but officials are reporting the lake’s level has dropped significantly in the past couple months.
Earlier in the week, Brown toured with media around a grassy area usually still covered with several feet of snow this time of year, and talked about the dire need for a 25 percent reduction of water use statewide.
“Whatever the state (WRCB) comes down with, we will have to comply with,” Masnada said, adding “it will serve to stretch our water supply that much further if 2016 or, God forbid, 2017, stays dry.
“We need to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” he added.
The plan for the time being is to stay with the state-mandated three-day-a-week schedule, which took effect again on Wednesday.
If history bears out, local water officials will hear something from the state board before the end of this month, and Santa Clarita Valley water governing boards would probably have compliance plans in place by the following month, Masnada said.
“Things could get worse,” Masnada said, “however, right now, we have a water supply in place and we can meet demands if we have compliance (with the conservation plan).”
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.
It is helpful to recall that only two short years ago, the Castaic Lake Water Agency, and the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District, bolstered with endorsements from all three “business groups” in the SCV, were ready to commit millions of gallons each day of water from our Deep Saugus Aquifer to be given away at our expense, for free, to “downstream users”, as part of “Chloridegate”. When asked what all of us would do in the face of this give away for water in a drought, this was the answer. “Just buy more water from the Castaic Lake Water Agency”. Now, of course, this agency has no water to sell. Of course, if they did, it would have a price tag five hundred percent higher than what the “freely given” groundwater costs. Pride, arrogance, (and inaccurate water supply predictions) goeth before a fall, and vanished real water.