Winter rains fall short and drought holds its grip on Santa Barbara

What may have felt like a solid winter of rain, was far from what Santa Barbara needed. Even though there were some large moments for weather events in January and March that came with big downpours, the city says it remains in State Three drought conditions.

Santa Barbara City Assistant Water Manager Kelley Dyer says, “the whole state is seeing dry conditions this year. Our area here is in the worst part of it. Our neighbors in Ventura County have been deemed in extreme drought and we are in severe (drought.)”

City water officials say Cachuma Lake is still 60 percent below capacity and upstream Gibraltar Dam, while largely filled with silt, is close to going over its capacity due to the runoff. The normal trigger to get water flowing off the watershed into the reservoirs is about ten inches of rain. The latest storms came in under that mark, but the hills are fire damaged and the water is moving quicker.

If Gibraltar spills, that will bring a flow of water into the Santa Ynez River towards Cachuma.

Currently the Gibraltar supply is not being used by the city until the water settles and some of the sediment is not in the areas that would flow into the Santa Barbara filtration systems.

At Cachuma, there’s a concern that a restructuring of the intake pipe for the Tecelote tunnel may have to take place again as it did in recent years to get the water into the supply line for the south coast.

Conservation will still be a key component to water management in the city. Outside water sources purchased in recent years, along with underground supplies (now off line), desalination, and State Water deliveries are all part of a portfolio of water sources to help, but everything has to work in sync to keep the area from running dry.

“I’ve seen the wettest and I have seen the driest,” said Arthur Arredondo outside of his house. He has trash cans near his back yard downspout to capture rain water for his fruit trees. This season he has oranges, figs, plums, apples and avocados.

He also has artificial grass in the front and back of his house to save money on irrigation and to cut back on “mowing.”

One of his neighbors is also very careful with water use. “You have to watch how to use the water now because there are limits. It’s stage one, and then you go to stage two and oh my God the bill goes (gestures up),” said Anthony Oshehan at his Mesa area home. He has artificial grass and uses runoff water to irrigate his bamboo next to his driveway.

Oshehan was able to show his water bill and it was under $50 because he is careful with the use each month.

The desalination plant, a lifeline for the city’s water portfolio, is full operational after a $60-million construction timeline. “We have seen some really exceptional water quality,” said Dyer ” We are looking into ways to blend that water in to other sources in our system and kind of spread the water quality benefits.”

This afternoon there was also an announcement taxpayers were likely happy to hear. “We were awarded a $10-million grant from the state for the desalination project,” said Dyer.

For water savings information go to: http://www.waterwisesb.org/