Our Water, Our Future
2016 ANNUAL REPORT
Dear Resident,
Just over a year ago, the Santa Cruz City Council approved
recommendations to secure the future of our community’s water
supply. Created by residents who served on the Water Supply
Advisory Committee (WSAC), the recommendations include
increased conservation, consideration of water transfers and
additional water storage, purified recycled water and desalination.
The WSAC also encouraged regional collaboration.
What has happened in the year since the Council approved the
recommendations? The short answer is that a lot of progress has
been made. This report provides an update of where we are with
each recommendation to better secure your water future.
Sincerely,
Rosemary Menard, Water Director
Santa Cruz Water Department
2
Increased
Conservation
Did You Know?
0%
Even with projected growth,
water use is expected to
remain flat due to new
plumbing and building codes.
Though Santa Cruz is already one of the top water-saving cities in the state,
the WSAC recommendations increase the levels of conservation even further.
Recommendations include adding new programs, increasing rebates and
managing summertime use more efficiently. In the past 12 months, we:
• Completed an exhaustive Water
Loss Control Study to see where we
might be losing water through leaks
in our distribution system.
• Doubled our turf-removal rebate.
• Doubled our high-efficiency
clothes washer rebate for machines
that are certified as Energy Star,
Most Efficient.
• Expanded our large-landscape
water budget program and
updated the City’s water-efficient
landscape ordinance.
• Implemented budget-based water
rates for our irrigation accounts.
• Completed the 2015 Urban Water
Management Plan, which was
adopted by City Council in August.
3
Water
Exchanges
and Aquifer
Storage &
Recovery
The WSAC recognized that conservation alone will not solve our water supply
problem. WSAC members also learned that in normal rain years, a lot of river water
flows into Monterey Bay simply because we have nowhere to store it. Building
another reservoir is not feasible at this time. So the Committee zeroed in on
storing water in local, depleted aquifers through water exchanges and/or aquifer
storage and recovery.
Water exchanges allow groundwater-dependent water districts, like Soquel Creek
Water District, to rest and recharge their aquifers, using excess winter surface water
from Santa Cruz. Soquel Creek Water District agreed to pilot a water exchange
project after careful water-mixing studies are complete (groundwater and surface
waters have different characteristics). Water exchanges between Santa Cruz and
Soquel Creek Water District will likely be tested in the winter of 2017-2018.
Did You Know?
In-Lieu
Recharge
of aquifers provides water from
another source in lieu of drawing
water from an aquifer, so the
aquifer can rest and recharge.
4
Did You Know?
Active
Recharge
of aquifers utilizes wells with
screens at precise depths to inject
water directly into the aquifer.
The concept for aquifer storage and recovery, or ASR, is simple. Much like
depositing money in a savings account, excess water is injected directly into
a targeted aquifer where it can be withdrawn later – during a shortage of
surface water.
ASR has been used successfully in some places. However it has also failed in other
places, and will take much local study before we will fully understand its potential.
Storing and recovering water in an aquifer is a complex process that requires
modeling and pilot testing to identify the ideal location for an ASR project.
5
Recycled
Water
and Desal
Did You Know?
2:1
Desalination uses approximately
two gallons of seawater to produce
one gallon of drinking water.
Purified recycled water has been used in California for decades. It is currently
used indirectly for things like landscape irrigation, crop irrigation, dust control,
industrial cooling and aquifer recharge. The State is examining the feasibility of
adopting regulations to use it directly for drinking water.
What is the best use for purified recycled water in Santa Cruz? Will using purified
recycled water help provide a secure water supply for the community? Will
purified recycled water or desalination be needed in addition to water transfers
and ASR to fully close the supply gap identified by the WSAC? These are a few of
the questions that the Water Department began to study and analyze in 2016 in
accordance with the WSAC recommendations. Desal remains a back-up plan if ASR
and/or recycled water cannot meet our community’s needs.
6
Next Steps
Did You Know?
64%
Residents use 64% of the
Santa Cruz Water Department
water supply, businesses use
19%, agriculture uses 8% and
UCSC uses 7%.
At its November 24, 2016, meeting, the Santa Cruz City Council directed the
City’s Water Commission to assume oversight of the implementation of the WSAC
recommendations and agreements. The Commission receives regular reports
and presentations from Water Department staff on studies underway; they
hear from leading experts on topics like water conservation, ASR and recycled
water; and they receive quarterly progress reports on the status of each of the
WSAC recommendations. When feasibility, cost and energy studies for each
recommendation are completed, it will ultimately be the Water Commission that
will make a recommendation to the City Council on the suite of water supply
projects that will meet the City’s goal to improve the reliability of its water supply.
Each month a summary of the Water Commission meetings and progress made on
WSAC recommendations is sent out via an email newsletter. If you would like to
receive the monthly email updates, please sign up at santacruzwatersupply.com.
7
Upcoming Meetings
The Water Commission meets on the first Monday
of every month and the public is encouraged to
attend. Meetings are at 7 pm and typically held in
City Council Chambers at 809 Center Street. Visit
cityofsantacruz.com/departments/water/city-watercommission
to confirm the location and preview
the agenda.
A joint meeting of the Water Commission and the
City Council will be held on March 14 to update
the Council on progress made on the WSAC
recommendations. The meeting will be at 7 pm
in City Council Chambers – 809 Center Street.
212 Locust Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
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