As city girds for drought, $900K made available to augment supply

Benicia City Council agreed Tuesday to make up to $900,000 available for a water purchase, though city staff said no purchase would be made without a second Council vote.

Benicia historically counts on the State Water Project to supply 85 percent of its water needs, 10,586 acre-feet a year. The rest comes from county and other sources.

But this year, after announcing previously that its contractors would get only 5 percent of their expectations, California declared it would deliver not a single drop from the State Water Project.

The city has ongoing access to 1,100 acre-feet of water from Vallejo, another ongoing commitment of 2,000 acre-feet from the Solano Irrigation District and Lake Barryessa, and 600 acre-feet from Lake Herman.

It has a one-time, unguaranteed supply ranging from 1,000 to 5,100 acre-feet that it hasn’t used from its allocated State Water Project supplies, Salomon said, and a guaranteed one-time supply of 2,450 to 4,900 acre-feet in Solano Project water it hasn’t used.

The city could be short as much as 3,436 acre-feet, he said.

“The situation is serious,” interim Public Works Director Steve Salomon told the Council Tuesday night.

Though California finally began receiving some precipitation in February that has continued this month, Salomon warned at a previous Council meeting that the current showers are the equivalent of a 10-ounce mug of water compared to an empty 5-gallon bucket.

He said, however, the rain has given him a little hope that the state might revert back to its November 2013 announcement that it would release 5 percent of State Water Project contracts.

On the other hand, even if rain keeps falling, Salomon said some state officials would be reluctant to release water, because the Delta is experiencing an increase in saltwater intrusion at Barker Slough, where water is pumped into the North Bay Aqueduct.

“We’re in unknown territory,” Mayor Elizabeth Patterson said. “Public trust trumps agreements.”

Salomon agreed. While he cautioned against using all of the city’s one-time-use water reserves, he added, “No one knows what will happen. If the community doesn’t conserve, your only choice is to draw that water down.”

While the Council has asked residents and its own operations to cut back water use voluntarily by 20 percent until the drought ends, it’s too early to tell whether the community is responding, Salomon said.

In past years, Benicia’s water use during summer can increase by as much as 30 percent, he said.

Nor could he say whether people would sustain a voluntary cutback through the late summer, when water use normally is high.

While the purchase is intended to sustain Benicia’s needs through 2015, Salomon said no one could predict how long California’s drought would continue. So he’s recommending that city staff, during purchase negotiations, insist that the water it buys could be stored, or banked, if it’s not used.

Vice Mayor Tom Campbell urged city staff to speak with representatives of Valero Benicia Refinery, which can use up to half of the city’s consumption.

He suggested the company could join the city in making water purchases, in exchange for guaranteeing Valero a large percentage of the bought water, as well as help Benicia’s money go further.

Salomon said the Council might think staff’s recommendation to authorize water expenditures is a little early in the game.

“But if things get worse, it’ll get a lot worse,” he said.

The Council members expressed support.

“I’m not thinking in terms of 2014, but 2015,” Patterson said, citing a decade-long drought Australia once experienced and reminding the audience that California has been in a drought for three years.

“Staff is recommending we be prepared,” she said. While conservation is the cheapest source of water, Patterson said, “it’s easier to identify sources and negotiate costs now rather than wait for summer.”

The Council will take up the drought and its responses again March 25, when employees will present data and scenarios for additional approaches the city might take to address the water shortage.