Nipomo residents must continue to limit their water use because of low groundwater levels, according to a report from the Nipomo Mesa Management Area Technical Group.
In April, the group analyzed groundwater levels in several wells in Nipomo, which confirm that Nipomo is still under “severe water shortage conditions,” according to the report. The Mesa’s water providers include the Nipomo Community Services District (CSD), the Golden State Water Company, and Woodlands Mutual Water Company, all of which must continue to meet restrictions mandated by the technical group’s Water Shortage Response Management Plan.
Groundwater levels generally take longer to replenish than reservoirs, explained Nipomo CSD General Manager Mario Iglesias, so the past year of rain didn’t provide enough influx for Nipomo’s water supply.
“Our water table did not come up as we anticipated,” Iglesias said. “The readings are what the readings are, and yes, we are short still.”
Nipomo’s water table did see an increase from 14.2 feet above mean sea level in 2016 to 15.6 feet, but that’s still below the 16.5-foot threshold to be considered severe water shortage conditions, the report said.
The management plan recommends that Nipomo residents use water wisely, especially for outside irrigation, Iglesias said. The Nipomo CSD has met the management plan’s 50 percent reduction in past years, Iglesias said, and hopes to continue the “unified message of using water wisely.”
“Irrigation is the highest percentage of water consumption, and you can imagine that July, August, and September are those big months,” he said. “We just ask customers to irrigate two days a week on their sprinkler systems, and if they are going to irrigate outside plants, to hand water them.”
Nipomo receives supplemental water from Santa Maria through an agreement reached in July of 2015 called the Nipomo Supplemental Water Project, Iglesias explained. The first year of the agreement allowed for 640 acre-feet of water to support Nipomo’s water supply and increases the amount of water moving through the pipes each year with the goal of 2,500 acre-feet for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The pipeline that moves Santa Maria water to Nipomo is also in progress, Iglesias said, and extensions are staggered through the years of the agreement to mitigate the cost of construction.
Even though the supplemental project is in place, restrictions still apply to Nipomo residents as they are still considered to be in a Stage IV drought. Iglesias said that as the project progresses, restrictions to Nipomo residents based solely on groundwater levels may require some reconsideration.
“The district needs to look at, are we in a different position and do we carry a different responsibility to this community now that we have the supplemental water and additional water to provide for new service connections?” he said. “So the district really needs to evaluate, what’s the right thing to do right now?”
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 6, 2017.
