| Well by the time this comes out spring will have arrived and (hopefully) May showers will be falling. It was a dry winter but our water source, the reservoir, is in good shape. The restoration vegetation should be coming up and the area will soon look similar to the other hillsides in the area.
You should have received a mailer in February about a community effort to get solar for your homes. The companies participating were giving discounts AND they were also agreeing to help provide solar for the community center. Renewable energy is a hot topic and if we want to not only reduce our dependence on foreign oils but keep the price of those oils down than it is necessary to explore and utilize renewable energies whenever practicable.
The reservoir has not only benefited the area by providing a much needed dependable water supply (when’s the last time you heard us saying be prepared to really cut your usage down) but is allowing the District to also reduce some of it’s electrical costs. The District is able to do this by only moving water from its surface water source to the reservoir when it is sure it can continuously pump (around the clock everyday) for a whole month’s electrical billing period. The months we move water are dependent on what the water flows are at our point of diversion and the water level of the reservoir, ie is there enough room in the reservoir to hold a whole months worth of pumping.
The end result is that the District for 4 to 6 months of each year does not move water from its surface water source to the reservoir, each month the District does not move water saves the District about $1,250.00 for a total of $5,000.00 to $8,000.00 a year! For example the District did not move any water to the reservoir during December 2008, January 2009, February 2009, or March 2009.
The District had planned on moving water during March but, the winter snow packs were so low and the weather so dry that the District’s winter water rights were not available to it. Again the reservoir saved us from having to impose restrictions, only this time it would have been during part of February, all of March, and part of April.
The District will move water during April of 2009 but will probably not move any for May. Then beginning sometime in June the District will again move water so that if it turns into a hot dry summer the reservoir will be full before our surface water source starts seeing the effects, ie low flows in the stream.
This strategy not only benefits the District in cost savings but also benefits the environment, other water users, and other community area’s because we will not be worried about taking water during the low flows. Just like the District said when we proposed the project this is a win –win project for everyone!
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