LOWER LAKE — A water shortage continues in the Lower Lake area. A moratorium that was enacted in August 2007 is still in effect despite the recent rains that have fallen in the county.
“We haven”t had enough rain fall to make a real big difference,” said Lower Lake County Waterworks District 1 General Manager Al Tubbs. “We are still asking customers to for a 10-percent reduction in water use.”
In August, the water district”s board of directors held a special meeting during which an ordinance was passed imposing a temporary moratorium on the allowance of new service line connections as well as on the sale of water to consumers outside the district.
Below-average rainfall had resulted in and continues to affect a lack of ground water sufficient enough to recharge the aquifer. Full production rates of the district”s wells are presently insufficient to fill the district”s storage tanks and are not meeting the current demand of the district”s customers.
“We are in a real unusual situation,” Tubbs said. “The recent rains did not really affect the ground water.”
Lower Lake County Waterworks District 1 serves about 850 consumers. According to Tubbs, a 10-percent reduction in water use will save approximately 50,000 gallons of water per day.
California Water Code section 350 provides that the board of directors may declare a water shortage emergency condition to prevail within the area it serves when it finds and determines that the ordinary demands and requirements of water customers cannot be satisfied without depleting the water supply to such an extent that there would be insufficient water for human consumption, sanitation and fire protection. The moratorium will remain in effect until the district”s water supply is restored to adequate levels.
“I don”t see that we are going to be in a real good situation until we get a lot of rain and what we need is the slow, steady rain not the hard rain,” Tubbs said.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
