Education     Representation     Water Resources     Land Use

WATER SUPPLY OUTLOOK:

Wet year welcome, but doubts follow drought

Fresno Bee – 5/16/05

By Marc Benjamin, staff writer

AUBERRY — Overlooking foothills and facing snow-capped mountains, Gary Temple's tiny pond — usually no deeper than a toddler's wading pool — has risen to nearly 6 feet deep this spring.

Despite the additional water in his tadpole-filled pond from 36 inches of rainfall this season, Temple harbors no illusions about the severity of water problems in Fresno County's foothills.

"I think people in this area are smart enough to know that just because you have one good season of water, it doesn't mean a long-term drought will end," he said. "All we need is five more [seasons] like this, and we will be in good shape."

In communities with water problems throughout the Valley and foothill and mountain areas to the east, residents repeat the water-conservation mantra — even with this year's significant precipitation. Fresno's rainfall was the 13th-heaviest in nearly 130 years of record keeping.

The feeling among community leaders is that failing wells will continue despite heavy moisture.

The problem is the underground, hard-rock terrain like that on Temple's 43-acre parcel, where water seeps into hard-rock fissures. Those fissures are drained by wells; sometimes, they contain water; other times, they run dry.

"When you're dealing with fractured-rock wells like we have … it takes 10 inches of rain to replace 1 inch in the rock fracture," he said.

Temple, a retired architect and San Jose transplant, is president of the Sierra and Foothill Citizens Alliance, a group formed last year after numerous area wells began failing. The group has been holding public meetings with key local leaders about water problems and representing eastern Fresno County residents in front of county supervisors as key water issues come up.

Conservation still crucial Temple's group and others are urging water conservation this summer among vacationers and new residents in Fresno County's foothills and mountains around Shaver Lake, even with the strongest snowpack numbers for May in years.

Snowpack measurements are 200% of normal at locations feeding the San Joaquin River and 170% of normal in areas that funnel into the Kings River, according to state Department of Water Resources records.

Well drillers are seeing more water, mostly in shallow, hard-rock wells, but they also say it is not likely to produce water for an extended period.

"The shallow wells are showing a big improvement, but we have that every year," said Richard Fronk, owner of Fronk's Mountain Drilling and president of the California Groundwater Association's Fresno branch. "The long-term problem hasn't really changed."

Ron Taylor, a well and electrical contractor in Auberry, said there are ways to know if a problem is looming for those who rely on wells in the foothill and mountain areas.

High power bills from hardworking pumps, surges or changes in water pressure can signal a problem. Taylor said many residents with storage tanks may be teetering on the verge of a serious problem and not know it.

Rainfall and snowpack figures don't always translate into a significant amount of water trickling underground, which residents in foothill, mountain and other water-short areas rely upon because of the geological forces at work.

"A big snowpack helps everything, but if you don't have good geology for wells, it's not going to make that any better," said Dave Hart, an engineering associate with the state Department of Water Resources in Sacramento.

Up the hill from Temple's home, Howard Hendrix will be encouraging his Pine Ridge neighbors to conserve, too.

"I think people are saying, 'We have had a lot of rain, let's relax,'" said Hendrix, president of Pine Ridge Property Owners Association. "There is an attitude that maybe things aren't going to be so bad. …No matter how good the water year is, these water problems aren't going away."

There also is concern closer to the Valley floor. Peter Hammar, secretary of the Dry Creek Rural Water Association, which covers an unincorporated area with about 600 properties north of Clovis along Fowler Avenue north of Shepherd Avenue that includes Appaloosa Acres, Horseshoe Bend and Shenandoah Farms subdivisions, said large puddles from heavy rains have not been absorbed underground because of layers of clay near the surface.

"Many people I have talked to in our affected area agree that one or even a few wet years are not going to recharge our dry or drying wells and that we need help from Clovis and/or Fresno," Hammar said, referring to a study that may result in water being piped from one of the cities to his neighborhood.

'A false sense of security'

Fresno County Supervisor Bob Waterston, who represents the Valley, foothill and mountain areas, puts it more bluntly: "This is a false sense of security. Come October, I bet I am going to get calls from people telling me they don't have water.… If you are going to live there, that's what you have to deal with."

Water experts do not debate Waterston's assertion. One good water year in areas with a history of groundwater overdraft — where more water is drawn from the ground than seeps in — and considerable population growth is not enough.

But to stem overdraft, the county will put new regulations into effect in July requiring more water before building permits are issued and making storage tanks mandatory if wells produce less than 5 gallons per minute. The county also will require a more stringent well-testing method before a home can be built.

The new rules were made after the state sent a letter last year to Fresno County requiring more water per home around Shaver Lake. The county also has hired a contractor that is preparing a $250,000 study to examine groundwater use in eastern Fresno County and ways in which population trends have affected water levels. The report also will recommend ways to add water in foothill and mountain communities, including examining use of Shaver Lake water.

"Long-term, we see large fluctuations for water-short areas of the county, the fluctuations are up and down, but the long-term trend has been down," said Phil Desatoff, county geologist. "You need a series of wet years to get you back where you started."

Carl Carlucci, engineer for the state Department of Health Services drinking water branch in Fresno, said Fresno County's new rules are a step in preserving water in foothill and mountain areas. He said some of the county's new well-test requirements are being considered for use by the state as it evaluates problems in Oakhurst, where inadequate water supplies have led to a growth moratorium.

While calling Fresno County's new rules a positive step, he compares Shaver Lake to Oakhurst, saying Shaver Lake "is heading in that direction if they are not careful."

Drought-resistant landscaping

Another step Fresno County has taken is requiring drought-resistant landscaping in new developments. Shaver Lake developers also are working to get surface water from the lake, a process that may take years, but which will alleviate the need to use water from underground sources.

In Oakhurst, the growth moratorium will remain in effect until it's known how much water the new wells can produce, Carlucci said.

The only issue keeping the Oakhurst project from starting is approval from the state Department of Water Resources, he said. Wells and piping could be installed and ready to produce late this summer if the project can begin in the next few weeks.

Roger Forester, president of Hillview Water Company in Oakhurst, said mandatory conservation efforts limiting customers' outdoor watering to two days a week will begin at the end of May.

He said heavy rain has kept water consumption low because more water is used outdoors than indoors.

Last July, an emergency declaration was issued after a well was removed from service for repair as Hillview's water tanks were draining from summer use. The declaration restricted water use for about 1,000 customers. In addition to not washing cars, watering lawns or filling pools and hot tubs, daily use of dishwashers and clothes washing was restricted.

Forester said construction on water system improvements with a $3.4 million no-interest government loan should begin this summer. He is optimistic that the wells will produce enough water to allow Hillview to add up to 140 connections to its system.

"I am hopeful we are going to get our project started, and if that happens, we may have some more water on line before the end of the summer, so we won't have to ask people to stop all outside watering," Forester said. "But it won't get any better than two days a week."  #

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/10500063p-11294944c.html

For more information:  info@sierrafoothillwater.org

To contact the webmaster:  webmaster@sierrafoothillwater.org