Santa Cruz Water Department

Last week the Department of Public Works was able to very slowly lower the water levels in the San Lorenzo lagoon. Doing this important public safety work slowly is important for protection of fish in the lagoon. Here are a couple of Water Department staff fisheries folks helping out. Happy Watershed Wednesday!

Wherever you're celebrating Independence Day, please be mindful to keep it clean, and keep it safe! There's no "extra" water for fires this year!

We're happy to be back with an in-person Secchi Dip-In this year! Hope to see you on July 31 at Loch Lomond. Happy Watershed Wednesday! Loch Lomond Recreation Area, North American Lake Management Society, California Lake Management Society

The crew working on the Newell Creek Dam inlet/outlet replacement project, led by Water Department Engineer Isidro Rivera, continues to make great progress! They've already tunneled about a third of the way toward the goal of 1,700 feet...which at 6-12' per day, is significant. Go team!

Santa Cruz is looking to change its water rights. Water rights are issued by the state and govern how a water agency can use the water it has rights to. Water rights are complicated, so we've tried to simplify things in a new guide for the community. Check it out at www.cityofsantacruz.com/scwrp

Confused about how the drought is affecting different areas in California? This good article from yesterday's Sentinel does a good job laying out conditions across the state.

The Water Department is working very closely with local fire agencies on wildfire preparedness. This work includes, but is not limited to, inspecting pipelines and other priority facilities and following up with necessary fuel management and facility hardening efforts. Happy Watershed Wednesday! CAL FIRE CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit Santa Cruz Fire Department

Help out, we're in a drought again! Don't forget to irrigate early in the day, and if you can mulch, mulch! Heat and wind cause water to evaporate, and a layer of mulch will provide extra insurance against evaporation. #water #conservation #savewater #savemoney #drought #californiadrought

While we're not so happy about the low steelhead numbers in the San Lorenzo lagoon, the coho in Laguna are a nice surprise! Thanks to the Sentinel for covering this. Happy Watershed Wednesday!

If you're looking for ways to reduce your water use this summer, the home audit in our new Water Conservation guide might be just the tool you need. https://www.cityofsantacruz.com///83723/637539839803200000

The Water Department is working with the State Water Resources Control Board to change our water rights. Changes will allow us to work collaboratively with our regional partners; and to commit to river and stream flows to sustain special status fish species. You can learn about the project and read the draft EIR on our website! cityofsantacruz.com/SCWRP

This is "Invasive Species Action Week". The Water Department puts a lot of effort into managing these species in order to protect our water supply and the watersheds that provide it. Canada geese, bullfrogs, French broom, dreissenid mussels, red-eared sliders, New Zealand mud snails and many other invasive, exotic species are the focus of this work. You can learn more about invasive species at the link below. Happy Watershed Wednesday! https://cdfgnews.wordpress.com//cdfw-recognizes-californi/ City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation , California Department of Fish and Wildlife,

Help out, we're in a drought - again! Don't forget to irrigate early in the day, and if you can mulch - mulch! Heat and wind cause water to evaporate, and a layer of mulch will provide extra insurance against evaporation.

Did you know that one drip a second from a leaky faucet can waste 192 gallons a month? Wasted water is wasted money, so be sure to fix those seemingly harmless leaks!

This video about the recent mid-winter fire weather is pretty informative. Kudos to all the fire crews who kept things from getting out of control. Now we need more rain! Happy Watershed Wednesday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7gGddsforg

Check out these interesting historic photos of Santa Cruz water-related stuff. The wave motor was especially cool! Happy Watershed Wednesday! https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/catalog

Since the soil is a little wet now, we are ramping up our French broom eradication on watershed lands. Broom is non-native and grows along roadsides and fuel breaks. This exacerbates fuel conditions. When you consider that most ignition sources come from roads (lightning during fire season is actually very rare here), this is a problem from both biodiversity as well as overall watershed protection perspectives. On a related note, check out this holiday edition of DFW's "Eye o...n Invasives". There is some good info here. Happy New Year and Happy Watershed Wednesday! Photo: 2017 Broom Bash at Loch Lomond https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx

Looks like we've got six more weeks of winter coming. We'll take it! We'll take as much rainfall as we can get!

After an appreciation from Mayor Donna Meyers last night, we bid adieu to dedicated Water Commissioner Linda Wilshusen. Commissioner Wilshusen served eight years on the commission, representing our customers in unincorporated Santa Cruz. Her commitment, good questions, and thoughtful contributions will be missed. Last night was her last meeting. Many thanks to you, Linda!

Tune in for tonight's Water Commission meeting live!

Good progress is being made by the Resource Conservation District and Santa Cruz County on buttoning up burned homesites. In fact, there are left over erosion control materials from this effort that will be given away this Saturday, Dec. 19. SCWD will be helping with this effort in the interest of facilitating drinking water source protection. The materials will be available at a location TBD in Bonny Doon and another location TBD in the SLV. Please stay tuned for more detail...s as they emerge. Happy Watershed Wednesday! Update: materials request form https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLScS5jWnE6HGml5unv/viewform More info https://www.facebook.com/rcdsantacruz/ Photos courtesy of Santa Cruz County and the Resource Conservation District

Tune in for tonight's Water Commission meeting.

Extra, extra! The Fall 2020 issue of the SCMU Review is now available!

At tonight's Water Commission meeting the Commission will discuss the final draft of the updated "Water Shortage Contingency Plan", which is the plan that directs the Water Department's response (hence, the community's,) to water shortages/drought. Spoiler alert: the state is calling for much more dramatic cutbacks than in the past... https://www.cityofsantacruz.com//wat/city-water-commission

Tonight the Water Commission will take a first look at the 2021 water supply outlook. Please join us! https://ecm.cityofsantacruz.com/OnBaseAgenda//ViewMeeting

Interested in how wildfire affects wildlife? Check out this timely journal from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Happy Watershed Wednesday! https://drive.google.com//17qRdPS5O8AKp4MyJaczui5CqI/view

Dear customers - we are (finally) predicted to have some rainy weather! Time to turn off your irrigation and let Mother Nature do her thing! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Water Commission

The City's Water Commission will meet virtually on Monday at 7:00pm. Items on their agenda this month include an informational presentation on the affordability of Santa Cruz’s current water and wastewater rates; recommendations on system development charges, elevation surcharge, and eliminating the outside city surcharge; and a presentation of the analysis on the cost to provide water transfers to Soquel Creek Water District Virtual meeting instructions and the full agenda packet can be found on our website. https://ecm.cityofsantacruz.com//Water_Commission_1574_Age