Water Planning

Heritage Ranch Community Services District
Resolution No 09-07 & Ordinance 5.900
Establish Emergency Water Shortage Regulations and
Providing for Staged Water Use Reduction Plan

On July 16, 2009, the Heritage Ranch Community Services District Board of Directors approved Resolution 09-07 Emergency Water Shortage Regulation and adopted Ordinance 5.900 establishing a Staged Water Use Reduction Plan.

The water shortage regulations and staged water use reduction ordinance was prepared by the District Engineer, Legal Counsel, staff, and the Operations and Engineering Committee over a two year period. The District conducted seven public meetings in which water conservation policies and regulations for a staged water use reduce plan were discussed. In addition to these meetings, the plan was published in the District's Spring 2009 newsletter along with presentations at an HROA public meeting and a Heritage Village Seniors Association meeting. The focus of the ordinance is the creation of policies on how the District will respond to an extreme water shortage. The ordinance provides procedures and regulations to follow during a prolonged water shortage. The District historically has had plans in place on how to manage temporary (3-5 day) water shortage problems, but we did not have any policies or procedures on how to handle a long term water shortage and its effects on our community.

The concern of low water elevation in Lake Nacimiento is almost an annual occurrence during the fall season. Lake Nacimiento is totally dependent on annual rain fall run off into the main body of the lake. The lake is the most active watershed in the State and can reach capacity during one wet season. Conversely, low rain fall years severely impact the amount of water collected each winter. Historically, the lake has gone through multiple years of high water elevations and corresponding multiple years with low water elevations.

The historical elevation data does not really portray the true distress of low water levels on the use of the lake today as a drinking water supply for Heritage Ranch. For much of Lake Nacimiento history, there have been few people living around the lake depending on it as a drinking water supply. Heritage Ranch as a community did not exist for most of the lake's history since the Nacimiento Dam was built. The community did not really become established and begin to grow before the early 1970s. At that time, Heritage Ranch was still a small community with a few hundred parcels containing primarily vacation homes with little or no landscaping. For much of the Ranch's history the community was mainly used as a summer recreation area and as part-time residences with very little development growth. However in the last few years, stimulated by high property values in the County, we have experienced rapid growth with larger traditional single family homes with full-time residents living on large lots with extensive landscaping. A new school has been built and plans are moving forward with a commercial retail center. Heritage Ranch has become a typical suburban community.

Lake Nacimiento is our only water supply. This is not a good position to be in with most water purveyors having multiple independent water sources. Examples include wells located throughout the local ground water basins, state water and local reservoirs. Water purveyors also often have considerable control over their water supply. Pumping can be stopped at wells that are being drawn down or releases from reservoirs can be halted in times of water shortage. We are not in this position. If our only water supply goes dry, we do not have any backup plans. The District Engineer is currently evaluating alternate water sources for our community. These may include deep wells or importing water. All of these options will be expensive and may not even be feasible.

A key concern with our water supply is that we have no control on how the water in the lake is used during the year. Monterey County controls the bulk of the Nacimiento water rights and releases water down the Salinas River to irrigate crops and lessen salt water intrusion into the Salinas Valley. The Monterey County Water Resources Agency historically releases between 125,000 to 200,000 AF of water from Lake Nacimiento every year. San Luis Obispo County has entitlement to 17,500 af of water and controls the last 12,000 AF of water in the lake. The District's current contract with San Luis Obispo County for 889 AF of water is sufficient for the community's needs, but is not available if the level elevation falls below 670 feet. Thus, access to the water is the key concern for Heritage Ranch.

The two new water projects at Lake Nacimiento will also impact the District's water supply. Monterey County's Salinas Valley Water Project and San Luis Obispo County's Nacimiento Water Project will ultimately impact the water levels of Lake Nacimiento. Of the two projects, the Salinas Valley Water Project will have the biggest impact on lake levels. The rate and timing of water releases down the Nacimiento River will change with the implementation of the Salinas Valley Water Project. In the long term, this could mean higher fluctuations in lake elevations and longer periods of low water levels.

Water conservation has never been emphasized much at Heritage Ranch. During times of water equipment breakdowns or prior to the construction of the treatment plant, residents were periodically asked to reduce water consumption. These were all very short term measures with no data to suggest how much water conservation actually occurred. Simply, our attitude has always been what good does it do to conserve if Monterey County is releasing huge volumes of water past our wells to the Salinas Valley. Our conservation doesn't really save any water in the lake. Our intake of water at the Nacimiento River is insignificant to the amount of water that annually flows past our wells.

The ordinance is structured and designed to the water elevations in Lake Nacimiento, our only water source. The ordinance designates five stages or trigger points of water elevations in the lake. When the trigger points are reached, the District Board may implement the water use reduction plan as outlined in the ordinance. Beginning with Stage II, the General Manager will provide notice to all District customers regarding the Board's declaration of a water awareness condition and activation of the conservation programs. The following table depicts the proposed trigger levels for the conservation program:

Implementing the proposed drought ordinance will be painful to residents and the District. The majority of the population in the United States does not value the worth of water and thus it is generally not conserved. The ordinance forces customers to conserve water by sharply increasing the price of water per unit. Substantial fee increases have proven to be the most effective method of getting customers to value water and conserve supplies. Most customers do not know how much water they use at their homes. Irrigation is the number one use of water in our community.

The ordinance calculates the average water use per tract and organizes tracts in groups based on the size of lots and water consumption history. Each group is given an allotment of water. The average water consumption data for the prior two years was used for the base year allotment. One unit of water equals 748 gallons.

The following are the six groups and tracts associated with each group along with the maximum water allocation per group:

The non-residential uses of Group 6, (commercial, institutional, irrigation & public facilities) will receive an allotment based on the average use of the previous two years. These users will be required to reduce their water consumption by the same percentage as residential customers, 15%, 30% and 50%.

Stages II, III, and IV of the ordinance contains the key actions, penalties, and enforcement actions when customers exceed their allotment or otherwise do not conserve water. Stages II, III, and IV have a formal public hearing and Board action followed with notification to each customer when one of these stages is adopted. Each stage of water conservation adds onto the previous stage with more stringent conservation measures. Listed below are the highlights of the stages that contain penalties:

1. Stage II Awareness Reservoir is at 18% of Capacity

Goal is to achieve a 15% reduction in water consumption. All water allotments per group are reduced by 15%. A fee surcharge of 50% is assessed for all water used above the allotment. Water allotments included with the base water meter fee are eliminated. Any leak forgiveness policy that may be in effect is eliminated. All outside irrigation may only occur between the hours of 8:00 pm and 7:00 am.

2. Stage III Drought Reservoir is at 9% of Capacity

Goal is to achieve a 30% reduction in water consumption. All water allotments per group are reduced by 30%. A fee surcharge of 100% is assessed for all water used above the allotment. The use of potable water for washing vehicles, sidewalks, driveways, etc, will be prohibited. Use of water from fire hydrants is limited to fire suppression and/or other activities immediately necessary to maintain health, safety and welfare of residents. Water use for dust control and soil compaction for construction projects is prohibited. Will Serve Letters shall not be issued.

3. Stage IV Extreme Drought Reservoir is at 4% of Capacity

Goal is to achieve a 50% reduction in water consumption. All water allotments per group are reduced by 50%. A fee surcharge of 200% is assessed for all water used above the allotment. All exterior water features, including pools, spas, and fountains are prohibited. Water meters will not be set for new customers. Outside irrigation of any kind will be prohibited, including residential, commercial, institutional, and landscape meters. All California communities must learn to live with water shortages. Periodic drought conditions are becoming a reality for most areas in California. A plan on how to manage a water shortage and live on less water is needed for Heritage Ranch. The Water Conservation Plan and a Staged Water Use Reduction Plan will allow our community to survive and continue during a long term water shortage. Please see the tab below for the complete Ordinance 5.900 language. Water Conservation Plan