Redlands will make it through 2014 without any serious water shortages, but next year will be another matter if Californiaâs drought continues.
The cityâs primary water sources are groundwater, Mill Creek and the Santa Ana River, and those resources already have dropped significantly, said Chris Diggs, assistant utilities director.
Mill Creekâs flow is about half of its normal 10 million to 12 million gallons per day, and water levels in the underground basin have dropped about 35 feet, Diggs said in a report to the City Council last week.
âThis year weâll be fine,â Diggs said.
Next year, however, without a return to normal rainfall levels, residents could face mandatory water conservation requirements.
âWe need to conserve now,â Diggs said in an interview Tuesday, Jan. 28. âThe water we save today is water we will have next year and the year after that. Itâs vitally important that we preserve all the water we can so we can stretch our supplies out â¦ until it finally starts to rain again.â
Redlands has taken several steps in the past seven years to prepare for the regionâs next drought, including refurbishing 12 city wells to allow them to produce more water, he said. The city also has replaced more than 25 miles of leaky water pipes, Diggs said.
Leaks in city water lines continue to be a problem, however, because of the age of the pipelines. In a 2011 report, the cityâs utility director said 95 miles of Redlandsâ 400 miles of water lines were 60 years old or older. At the time, the city was dealing with about 750 leaks a year.
A continuation of the drought wonât mean that Redlands will run dry. The city and other water agencies in the regions have agreements to help each other out during wet and dry years, Diggs said.
In abundant years, Redlands shares water with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, which can move excess water into storage at the stateâs Diamond Valley Lake reservoir near Hemet. In dry years, the municipal district can exchange that banked water for supplies from the State Water Project, delivered through pipelines from Devil Canyon north of San Bernardino.
The local water agencies also work together to percolate water into underground storage in the San Bernardino Valley, so that it can be pumped out for use during drought periods, Diggs said.
Redlands residents can help conserve water now by reducing their landscape irrigation, Diggs said.
âItâs frustrating to drive around and see people irrigating their yards as if it was summer,â he said.
In winter, lawns and landscaping can get by with much less water, he said. Residents could go from watering every day to once a week or less.
âThereâs a 40 million-gallon difference in water use from summer to winter, and most of that is landscape irrigation,â Diggs said.