The Nipomo Community Services District Board of Directors declared a “Stage IV” water shortage on July 27, upping its water shortage response from “Stage III.”
Nipomo’s Water Shortage Response and Management Plan comprises five stages of drought, each of which calls for a set of targeted reductions in water use designed to protect long-term groundwater supplies, according to a news release from the district. Stage IV is declared after Stage III, or a severe water shortage, persists for more than one year.
However, the board has not yet imposed increased water reduction measures—and it may not have to, if residents can achieve a 50 percent reduction in groundwater pumping to date, as is required by Stage IV conservation objectives. Reduction currently stands at 46 percent.
“With the conservation objective of a 50 percent reduction in groundwater pumping nearly met, the board did not impose optional actions to increase conservation efforts at this time,” General Manager Mario Iglesias said in the news release. “Taking measured steps to meet needs as they arise is a common sense approach, and the one the board chose in this instance.”
Other conservation efforts typically required by Stage IV include all measures from Stages I, II, and III, plus:
- • No district water for irrigation or outdoor uses.
- • All customers asked to use the minimum necessary amount of water.
- • Suspend processing existing applications for water service.
- • No supplemental water allocated to projects in the application process.
- • New service connections reserved only for completed commitments.
Meanwhile, the board will continue enforcing “Stage III” water conservation measures until its January 2017 meeting, at which it will review the community’s conservation efforts.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.
