U.S. Water News Online
LOS ANGELES -- The enormous underground aquifer that provides water to more than 2 million Orange County residents has been overdrawn by more than 133 billion gallons -- the biggest drop in a decade and the latest sign of a severe and worsening drought.
Orange County Water District experts say the overdraft, which comes to 411,000 acre-feet, is not enough to bring serious consequences just yet. The county has seen lower levels, including a record overdraft of 700,000 acre-feet in 1956.
Still, the overdraft will likely push up water rates, either in the next few months or next year. The Orange County Water District, which supplies water to 2.2 million of the county's 2.9 million residents, has begun looking for ways to make up the deficit.
"Quite frankly, that makes us uncomfortable," said Virginia Grebbien, water district general manager. "That's not where we want to be." The overdraft means water is being removed from the aquifer faster than it is being replenished. Normally during dry years, the district does not like to exceed a deficit of 200,000 acre-feet.
The overdraft has not caused any problems yet, and no rationing or extreme conservation measures are being considered. The barriers against seawater intrusion are not affected. "It's not a crisis," Grebbien said.
The Metropolitan Water District, which provides more than half the water consumed in Southern California, will pump 90,000 to 100,000 acre-feet of water into Orange County's aquifer by year's end to help with the problem, MWD officials said.
The regional aquifer, deep deposits of water in the soil and rocks beneath northern and central Orange County, provides about half the county's drinking water; the rest is imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.
The overdraft would be enough to supply 800,000 homes for a year.
A prolonged dry spell in the region is to blame. The county has not seen a storm that dropped a full inch of rain in 587 days.
Inland areas normally help recharge the county's aquifer by sending water down the Santa Ana River, but they, too, are dry.
Drought conditions prevail in more than half the nation. The causes, however, are believed to vary from region to region.
The aquifer overdraft has led to a split opinion on the Orange County Water District board about when to take action.
Water producers -- the cities, water districts and other agencies that pump water from the ground -- are given an allotment of water they are allowed to draw from the aquifer. They import the rest, at higher cost.
The present allotment is 75 percent -- that is, each agency can draw 75 percent of the water it needs to supply its customers from the aquifer.
The Orange County Water District will discuss in board meetings in October whether to cut that allotment in order to conserve more of the aquifer.
Grebbien says she advocates doing so in April. Normally, the allotments are adjusted each April, and keeping to that schedule will help the water producers avoid budgetary chaos -- as well as a sudden spike in water rates.
But some board members, she said, want to cut the allotment sooner.
Patrick Scanlon of the Southern California Water Co., who also is head of a group that represents northern and central county's 15 to 20 producers, said the producers want the board to wait until April.
"Right now all of us from the retail level are aware of the situation," Scanlon said. "We think it's a serious situation. However, we want to be sure everyone understands that we don't want to overreact."
Scanlon said he could not yet estimate how much water rates might increase if the producers' groundwater allotment is cut. They could be reduced to drawing only 57 percent of their water from the aquifer, or to some higher level that is less than 75 percent. But that decision has not yet been made by the Orange County Water District.
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields