SBCGrandJury
Keep Up the Good Work
Water availability has been a concern in the region of Santa Barbara County since the earliest settlements of the Chumash. The most recent drought, ending in 2023, refocused attention on the need to both conserve water and to seek new sources. Water scarcity is an ongoing fact of life in the County. The unique geography of the South Coast makes it particularly susceptible to drought; however, the entire county faces a scarcity of both ground and surface water.
Historically, groundwater resources have been depleted by both agricultural and urban uses, without regard for sustainability. Seawater intrusion into our aquifers due to overuse of the groundwater is a real threat.
The last three winters have seen heavy precipitation across Santa Barbara County leading to full reservoirs and somewhat replenished aquifers. Nevertheless, complacency is not a luxury County residents can afford. As another drought is inevitable, the 2024-25 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury undertook an investigation to determine whether Santa Barbara County as a whole is adequately prepared.
The Grand Jury reviewed ongoing concerns about water availability, particularly in light of state mandated increases in housing in the County. The Grand Jury considered the recommendations of past Grand Juries regarding the water management situation throughout the County and found that circumstances have substantially improved since the issuance of these previous reports. The professionalism and commitment of all individuals interviewed as well as the high degree of constructive coordination among the County Water Agency, local water districts, and local groundwater sustainability agencies impressed the Grand Jury.
Useless from the Grand Jury. Summarized as – we’ve had several years of good rain and our current storage is very good. We’re all good!
That’s it? Guess what, another few years in a row of less than average rain, which is standard, and we’re again looking at low storage. Let’s start talking about more reclaiming of water, limiting massive development including hotels (it’ll be hard given crazy Gavin’s building mandate), and year-to-year (constant) conservation policies and message to residents. In fact, I’d suggest hotels should be paying about 3 or 4x water rates compared to residents. Hit em hard.
South County water managed with common sense. Modern hydrology analytics incorporated into decision making processes. North SB County Twitchell Reservoir – U.S. Bureau of Reclamation management continues abysmal in its storage/release methodology and consideration metrics. Los Padres ForestWatch, SLO Coastkeeper, Environmental Defense Center pushing woke politics into fray and process.
Santa Maria agriculture, entire valley water table being bypassed of valuable Cuyama watershed. Seasonal runoff will continue to be wasted! Ridiculous CFS outflows during winters famished straight to Pacific, often damaging Guadelupe areas with flooding.
Cachuma, Gibralter and Jameson Lake – Juncal Dam pictured, have been managed with wise forecast decision making analytics being implemented on event to event basis, current forecast models and engineer/hydrology implementing good decisions. One exception – hydrologists have learned from being the two heavy rain events Jan/Feb of 69′. I will always remember livestock, horses, cattle and debris flowing over the banks down the Santa Ynez River back in the day.
Easy fix, save the annual watershed at Twitchell for common sense release/storage!
Kind regards,
David Reide
maybe we can see a decrease in our water rates?