Local Emergency Due To Drought Declared In Santa Clara County

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Weeks after the Santa Clara Valley Water District declared a water shortage emergency, Santa Clara County declared a local emergency due to the extreme drought conditions and called on residents and businesses in the county’s unincorporated areas to begin conserving water.

The water district had recommended at a meeting June 9 that the county declare a local emergency and implement mandatory water restrictions to accomplish a 15 percent reduction in water use from 2019 — or 33 percent of 2013 water use — along with proposed restrictions that include caps on using potable water for outdoor landscaping and irrigation and washing cars and structures.

In a statement thanking the county Board of Supervisors for approving the resolution, Valley Water Board Chair Tony Estremera also called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a drought emergency in Santa Clara County.

"Our water supplies are in jeopardy," Estremera said. "Together, the actions taken by Valley Water and Santa Clara County acknowledge the water emergency facing our county and position us well to take additional measures to protect our water supplies and work with retailers and our community to conserve this precious resource."

Santa Clara County is currently in an “extreme drought” condition. District officials warn that groundwater levels could plummet to an "emergency" stage by next year, which could lead to wells running dry in South County and land subsidence resuming in North County. Groundwater accounts for about 40 percent of water use in Santa Clara County, and is the only drinking water source in South County.

“As Californians, we all know how precious water is. During the last drought, many of us learned that every drop is valuable, and we all came together to find creative new ways to conserve this incredibly important resource,” said Board of Supervisors President Mike Wasserman. “We did it before and we can do it again — every small step we can each take to stretch our water supply is critical right now.”

With a 15 percent reduction in water usage, district officials project a best case scenario of water levels remaining at normal capacity next year, or at worst in a "severe" stage.

“The reality is we live in an arid region that will continue to experience droughts. Water conservation is something we must all do together, and this includes the County and the many facilities we operate,” said Jasneet Sharma, Director of the County’s Office of Sustainability. “There are many steps that we should all take, from large scale conservation projects and household level water conservation retrofits to simple household changes like turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth. Each one is an important part of sustainability.”