Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors member Sig Sanchez
Santa Clara Valley Water District directors will take a closer look at the water supply, both present and future, during a Tuesday morning work study session.
"We're ahead of the governor, actually," said Director Sig Sanchez. "We have called for a 10 percent voluntary reduction ... We're not in too bad a state. Obviously, though, we're being cautious."
The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. at district headquarters, 5700 Almaden Expressway in San Jose.
Sanchez said the district can draw up to 30,000-50,000 acre feet of water, depending on demands, from the 300,000 acres of reserves near Bakersfield.
He said the district's board will look at the situation and at a proposed plan for conservation.
"We want to be sure we are well aware of the current situation and have a plan relative to a possible mandatory curtailment of water use," he said.
Santa Clara County receives almost half of its water supply from the Sierra Nevada and the other half from local rainfall. For the last two years, both the Sierra Nevada snowpack and the local rainfall have been well-below normal levels.
Although the water district's groundwater supplies are ample and reservoir levels remain on average at approximately 63 percent of capacity, another dry year could drastically change the situation, according to water district officials. As a result, the district called for at least 10 percent voluntary cut back in water use at their July 22 meeting. Conservation is needed now in to help reduce the likelihood of mandatory reductions next year.
Marilyn Dubil Marilyn Dubil is a freelance writer for The Times.
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