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close‘Water is a deep subject.”
I don’t know what wise-guy first said that, but it’s certainly true in California, and especially here in the North County, where many people have had to drill deeper wells.
This area is like a dishrag that someone is wringing out with two hands. One hand is the current drought and the other hand is the big increase in irrigated vineyards.
Here in Paso Robles, the city sends out water-conservation educators to hang messages on our doors. The one I found this week included a 3-by-5 refrigerator magnet telling me to run my pop-up sprinklers only 34 minutes per week.
I know it’s silly to grow carpets of green grass in this semi-desert region, but still, I’m suffering severe lawn withdrawal symptoms.
This water shortage isn’t a surprise, though. We saw it coming. People in nearby rural areas have been telling us for years about having to drill new or deeper wells. Now our fears have been confirmed by some out-of-town water consultants. They issued a report in May.
It’s called “Evaluation of Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Pumping, Water Year 2006.” There was a time when we Roblans felt smug and sassy about sitting on top of this big reservoir of underground water. We heard it contained 25 million acre-feet of water. We don’t mess around with gallons here. Big boys measure in acre-feet. An acre-foot contains almost 326,000 gallons.
And the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin goes south to below Atascadero, east out beyond Shandon and north up into Monterey County.
But it turns out that water isn’t just a deep subject, it’s also complicated. That water isn’t just sloshing around down there in a big bath tub. It’s all mixed up with layers of sand, gravel, rock, hardpan, clay-pan and what-have-you.
And part of that basin is just barely part of it. It’s called the Atascadero sub-basin, which of course is under Atascadero, but also stretches up under southern Paso Robles. Paso Robles’ most productive wells suck their water out of that Atascadero sub-basin.
Here’s what the consultants said about that sub-basin. (And remember their report was for the 2006 water year.) “Groundwater pumping in the Atascadero Subbasin increased (by) 4,445 Acre Feet between 2000 and 2006.”
That works out to an increase of 740 acre-feet per year. The report also said, “At this rate of increase, the perennial yield would have been exceeded in 2008.”
So, now they tell us!
I guess I’ll have to join Lawnoholics Anonymous?
Contact Phil Dirkx at phild2008@sbcglobal.net or 238-2372.
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