Newsom asked Californians to cut their water use by 15%. SLO County isn’t even close
In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged residents to cut water consumption by 15% as California continued to experience severe drought conditions that have drained reservoirs across the state.
San Luis Obispo County has so far failed to meet that water conservation goal, according to data gathered by The Tribune for several local communities, and it’s behind by a far amount.
Countywide on average, residents cut water use in August by nearly 5.5% compared to the same month last year, just over a third of the governor’s target.
That’s better than water conservation in July, when residents cut water use by an average of about 1.7%, according to data from the California Water Resources Control Board.
Local water purveyors largely said they’re proud of their communities for saving water where they could, but they encourage residents to continue to look for more ways to cut their use.
“How do we get to that 15%? For us, it’s really going to be about identifying who is and who isn’t using water efficiently,” said Nick Teague, San Luis Obispo’s water resource program manager, “and then trying to understand why that is and how we can help.”
A similar approach is being applied around the county, with many city public works departments funding social media campaigns, posting fliers and signs around their communities, and generally trying to reach out to residents and encourage them to save water.
It’s worked better in some communities than others, according to data from each water purveyor.
How much residents reduced water consumption in SLO County communities
The best water savers in SLO County are in Arroyo Grande, where residents cut their August water use by 10.2% compared to last year, the largest decrease in the county.
Cambria and Morro Bay residents and Los Osos Community Services District customers decreased water use by nearly 9% in August.
Those served by the Nipomo Community Services District and the Atascadero Mutual Water Co. cut their use by more than 4%, while residents served by the cities of San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles decreased water consumption by less than 2%.
Pismo Beach residents’ water consumption this August was nearly level with last August as they reduced use by just about 0.05%.
Some communities, like Arroyo Grande, consumed more water in July of this year than they did in July 2020, according to the data. So a decrease in water consumption in August this year was encouraging, said Shane Taylor, the city’s utilities manager.
“The customers are starting to come around because we’ve been really doing a lot of public education and prepping them for the mandatory restrictions coming up,” he said.
Several cities and water purveyors have asked or encouraged their residents and customers to reduce water consumption during the drought, but Arroyo Grande may become the first local city to impose new mandatory water restrictions this year.
In its meeting on Sept. 28, the Arroyo Grande City Council discussed requiring that residents reduce water consumption by 10% to 20%, but decided to wait to allow city staff to possibly revise those proposed restrictions.
Low reservoir levels may prompt mandatory water restrictions
The possible water restrictions for Arroyo Grande come after the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors enacted the Low Reservoir Response Plan for Lopez Lake.
Lopez provides water to Arroyo Grande as well as Pismo Beach, Grover Beach and the Oceano Community Services District.
The Low Reservoir Response Plan effectively reduces the water allocated to each of those Lopez Lake contractors by 10% due to the lake’s rapidly dropping levels.
As of Oct. 1, Lopez Lake was at just under 31% capacity, which is about 2 percentage points lower than it was on Sept. 1, according to the county Public Works Department.
Other reservoirs in the county are also low and continue to see water levels drop.
Santa Margarita Lake is at 57.4% capacity, down 2 percentage points from Sept. 1. The lake serves as the main drinking water source for the city of San Luis Obispo.
Lake Nacimiento — which provides drinking water to cities such as Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Templeton and Atascadero — is at 11% capacity, down from 13% at the beginning of September, according to the Monterey County Water Resources Agency.
Whale Rock Reservoir, a small reservoir near Cayucos that provides drinking water to San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly and the California Men’s Colony, is sitting at 74%, down about a percentage point from Sept. 1, according to the city of San Luis Obispo.
Will winter rains end drought? Hard to say
These key drinking-water lakes may see their levels continue to drop as the drought bears on.
PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey predicts that we may see La Niña conditions this fall and winter — which likely means the county will see lower-than-average winter rainfall.
But there’s a chance for a good rain year as well, Lindsey said in one of his recent Tribune “Weather Watch” columns.
“Under borderline or weak La Niña conditions, the long-range rain forecast is much less certain,” Lindsey wrote.
“In fact, there have been weak La Niña years that have produced well above average rainfall amounts,” he continues. “The Farmer’s Almanac 2021–2022 Extended Weather Forecast predicts ‘average wintery temperatures and precipitation’ for the western United States, including California.”
However, water purveyors say conditions now, regardless of any winter rain predictions, warrant that residents work hard now to reduce water consumption.
“Drought is upon us,” said Nipomo Community Services District General Manager Mario Iglesias. “People know we have to save water, and they’re doing it. We just need to continue saving water and find other ways to save even more, especially if we don’t get rain soon.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
