Despite the recent rain, the East Bay’s main provider of drinking water may act next week to curb water usage, officials with the East Bay Municipal Utility District said Thursday.
On April 26, EBMUD board members will decide whether to elevate the utility’s response to the drought and impose a surcharge on all customers to pay for more water and other costs associated with the drought.
Board members will also consider reinstating an ordinance that penalizes people for excessive water use.
The potential actions follow a winter of low precipitation and a bleak state snow survey. The district’s reservoirs will likely fail to refill as the snow melts in the Sierra Nevada this spring, EBMUD officials said.
Reservoirs are currently 71 percent full and EBMUD officials are concerned about next year, too.
A decision Tuesday would elevate the drought emergency to Stage 2 of the utility’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan. Last April, EMBUD officials asked customers to cut water use by 10 percent and enacted a plan to draw upon additional supplies of water.
Tuesday’s meeting starts at 1:15 p.m. and can be watched at www.ebmud.com/boardmeeting.
Customers, residents and visitors can also attend the meeting in person at 375 11th St. in Oakland.
Attendees will be required to complete a COVID-19 symptoms checklist and wear a facial covering.
On Wednesday, EBMUD will hold a panel discussion at 6 p.m. to discuss the drought action plan.
19 comments
When they quit building new housing developments then maybe I’ll care a bit about saving water. If they’re building more housing there must be enough water for everyone.
Water in California is shared across three main sectors.
Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban, although the percentage of water use by sector varies dramatically across regions and between wet and dry years. Some of the water used by each of these sectors returns to rivers and groundwater basins where it can be used again.
While I agree about over development, we also need to get a greater share of the water.
Carlsbad Ca has the countries largest desalination plant. For two decades a company in the LA area has been trying to get a permit to build a larger plant. Environmentalist keep holding it up with one phony reason after another. So the Colorado is low this year as is Mono Lake so LA is in the hunt for more water. How the country can get more screwed up, I don’t know.
East Bay Mudd = Brain dead.
You think your water bill is high now? The water wars are already here.
by the end of the year they will be talking about flooding..
This is just the way nature works…move along.
So True!
You must have lived in this area for a long time, as we have. It’s the same cycle over and over again. My dad who moved to California in the 1930s said the same cycles back through his life here and never panicked during the dry years knowing the flooding years would follow. I’ve seen that all my life here too. It’s funny to see others get so upset over this. Most I think haven’t lived in California for more than 10 or 20 years they think it’s the end of the world.
🙂 absolutely true!
Badge1104 in 1930 the population in California was around 5 million now almost 40 million. Maybe a few more water users now than back in 1930.
They have done this song and dance for hundreds if not thousands of years. I have newspaper articles from the 1800s talking about climate change, mystery illnesses and fake wars. It’s the same playbook over and over to control the masses. The cycle will out live us and they will continue running the same HOAXES. Only around 5% of people have the intellect to figure it out so it will never stop. There is no way to stop the drama except to ignore it and live your life.
Save water…deport illegals.
Biden thinks he can reduce the deficit by increasing government spending, so let’s go with that Democrat theme to do the opposite of common sense. Let us build our way out of the problem with more high-density housing developments, illegal immigration and sending more water to Southern California for their lawns and especially to Wet’N’Wild Palm Springs, one of America’s largest aquaparks.
I love the virtue signaling of the management of East Bay MUDD as they sit behind their computer screens from home (can’t go into the office because you know COVID) as they tell us to cut back our water usage or face stuff penalties. Perhaps instead of always threatening us with higher bills, they might consider some plans to capture more rain runoff or consider building a desalination plant.
Well I’m trying to be positive. I guess we can be happy PG&E doesn’t distribute water because that’s the only other way we could be more screwed.
I have a question for our political leaders in California: if you truly believe in climate change, which says California will only get drier, then why aren’t you taking actions like desalination plants, better ways to store runoff rain, and providing assistance to home owners/building owners to add gray water systems to their property?
You either believe the climate is changing and plan accordingly or you don’t really believe that and water shortages are just ways to money grab from tax payers.
I think the water folks and the electric folks and the gasoline folks all have a mutual society with secret handshakes, decoder rings, disguised nods and such….
all meant to keep us down….
need proof? Ask any one of them they’ll deny it…. That’s proof right there…..
May restrict my aunt fanny.
It’s already a done deal.
Get ready for the water Nazis to patrol the streets and ask for your water papers.
You won’t have any so off to the gulag you go.
Uh yeah … and don’t breath so much because global warning and all that … everybody gotta get onboard and reduce the global carbon feetsprints … meanwhile the sun is wetting itself from the intense laughter …
They force you to cut back on your water usage, then the water company says they are making less revenue because people are using less water, so they have to raise your rates. They have implemented this scheme over and over. They know that most of the people in California will fall for it again .
Gee, no one is blaming the DA Becton on the draught? Amazing.
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