City of Santa Cruz to declare water shortage alert

Water use restrictions are on their way to Santa Cruz after the city adopted a resolution that will declare a water shortage alert.

Though the alert will enforce conservation efforts, city officials say they don’t expect many serious violations.

The shortage alert will start on May 1st and run through October 31st.

They city says they just haven’t seen enough rain this year and want to be ready if the trend continues.

2017 saw record breaking storms for Santa Cruz County. Though they caused millions in damage, the city of Santa Cruz had no shortage of water.

But in 2018, things are looking different.

“We had those two month of December and February which were practically bone dry and then, just recently, March it got wet,” said Toby Goddard, the city’s water conservation manager.

Most of the water in Santa Cruz comes from the San Lorenzo River. This year flows are a third of normal.

“The point of this is to get the public’s attention that it wasn’t a very wet year and to exercise caution with they way they use water,” Goddard said.

Paying attention to that warning will be the law.

Some of the primary restrictions under a stage 1 alert include no landscape watering between certain hours, all hoses have have nozzles and restaurants can only serve water upon request.

“Any type of enforcement when it comes to water is always preceded with a written warning, a photograph and usually that’s enough for our customers to understand the need and correct the problem,” Goddard said.

But a local non-profit says conservation isn’t typically a big issue for Santa Cruz.

“They’re using between 40 and 60 gallons per person per day, said Kirsten Liske, VP of community programs group at Ecology Action, “Places in the Central Valley, people are using a hundred gallons per day.”

Besides the restrictions, Ecology Action says there are plenty of ways people in Santa Cruz and across the Central Coast can conserve water.

“Just things like taking what they call ‘tea cup’ showers which is turning the water on and off in between rinsing and washing,” Liske said, “Really taking care to use either high efficiency dishwater appliances or turning the water off anytime it’s flowing.”

To find more tips on conservation, head to watersavingtips.org

For a full rundown of the restrictions under the alert as well as the ones the city requires year-round, click here.