To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Phil Brun, Utilities Director
Prepared By: Joy Eldredge, Deputy Utilities Director
TITLE:
Title
Declare a Moderate Water Shortage
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a Resolution declaring a moderate water shortage to implement the City's water shortage regulations set forth in Napa Municipal Code Chapter 13.10, in order to achieve a 15% community-wide demand reduction and maintain water supply reliability, and determining that the actions authorized by this resolution are exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA guidelines Sections 15307, 15308, and 15329.
Body
DISCUSSION:
Due to critically dry conditions both locally and throughout the state, available water resources are more sparse than typical this time of year. The City's main local supply of water, Lake Hennessey, received less than 10 inches of rain compared to our annual average of 27 inches. The amount of water recharge at Lake Hennessey this year (approximately 1,000 acre feet) rivals the limited recharge during the benchmark drought years in 1977-78 and 1990-91. Lake Hennessey is currently at 67% capacity, holding 20,812 acre feet (AF) as of April 1st. Fortunately, Milliken Reservoir is at 100% capacity, but it is much smaller, holding 1,400 AF.
In addition to the City's local supply of water, the City contracts through the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (NCFCWCD) for water supply from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) State Water Project (SWP). Due to the limited precipitation throughout California, the April 1st snowpack was just 58% of normal in the Sierras. Correspondingly, the SWP allocation is just 5%. As a result, City of Napa will receive just 1,095 AF of our 21,900 AF of Table A entitlements this year. This is in addition to 3,754 AF of carryover and Article 21 water available this year. It is also expected that 3,772 AF of Advanced Table A water will be available this year. ...
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