HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/20/2021 Item 3a, CooperDelgado, Adriana
From: Allan Cooper <
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2021 11:17 AM
To: Johnson, Derek; Floyd, Aaron; Codron, Michael; E-mail Council Website
Subject: Fwd: Can We Risk Selling City Recycled Water To The Edna Valley Growers?
Dear Derek, Aaron, et, al. -
I sent this (see below) to Save Our Downtown yesterday
while evaluating the pros and cons of selling recycled
water to the Edna Valley Growers (the Council's upcoming
agenda item). Based on my research, I concluded we can
do this. Let me know if these calculations coincide with
yours (or not!). Thanks!
- Allan
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Allan Cooper <allancoope@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 7:40 PM
Subject: Can We Risk Selling City Recycled Water To The Edna Valley Growers?
To: E Thyne <ethyne@sbcglobal.net>
The Current Water Crisis Will Negatively Impact Paso Robles, Atascadero and
Templeton - But Not the City of San Luis Obispo
When considering whether SLO can risk selling City Recycled Water to the Edna Valley
Growers, 1 revisited our current reliance on Nacimiento, Whale Rock and Salinas reservoir
water. What seems interesting when checking the acre feet of water stored in our three
reservoirs is that SLO appears to be drawing water exclusively out of the Nacimiento
Reservoir. As of today Nacimiento has dropped down to 18% capacity. This while Whale
Rock has remained steady at around 76% capacity and Salinas has remained steady at
63% capacity. Compare this with March 11, 2016 where Nacimiento was at 28% but
Whale Rock had slipped down to 36% and Salinas had slipped down to 13% capacity. So
it appears to me that SLO is doing a better job holding a reserve of water in both Whale
Rock and Salinas. Also bear in mind that Nacimiento lost 86,375 cubic feet of water over
the last four months. At this rate Nacimiento will be below "dead pool'; perhaps even
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empty, 4 months from now when the rains might eventually return. SLO County has rights
to 15,750 acre feet per year of Nacimiento water and it's hard to tell if that allocation has
already been exhausted (our City has a contractual entitlement to 5,482 AFY of
Nacimiento water). Although Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Oceano and Avila Beach are
reliant on the State Water Project, Paso Robles (which is entitled to 17,500 acre feet per
year), Templeton and Atascadero depend on both well water and Nacimiento Reservoir
water.
When the Nacimiento water runs out, SLO will be switching over to what water remains in
Whale Rock and Salinas. This will give SLO - at a consumption rate of 4,700 acre-feet per
year - a supply sufficient to see us through next winter. The City's capacity rights to Whale
Rock water is 55.5% which is currently 14,403 acre feet. Salinas will currently provide us
with 13,164 acre feet of water. This totals an ample 29,567 acre feet (or 6 years worth) of
water for our own use.
- Allan
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