SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It’s been a slow start to the rainy season. The first major storm of the season is bringing much needed rain as San Diego County deals with the driest start to any winter in more than 170 years.
While the storm offers a boost to drought conditions, officials warn the rainfall is not enough to fully replenish local reservoirs. According to Efren Lopez, senior water resources specialist for San Diego County Water Authority, the region is at about 11% of where it should be.
Lopez, along with his team at San Diego County Water Authority, are keeping a close eye on what comes down. He said, “As a region we welcome the rain, but it’s not something we depend on year to year.”
But for their 22 member agencies serving more than 3 million people, runoff is crucial for filling reservoirs.
“The water that falls as rain in our mountains and is captured by our reservoirs, that’s really our most cost effective and efficient source of water,” explained Drew Kleis, assistant director of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department.
Kleiss says the last two years brought wet winters, allowing the city to capture an extensive amount of rain. He commented, “We’ve been able to increase the percentage of local water use up towards 25 to 30% of our local supply, much more than that 10 to 15% average.”
Of the 21 reservoirs in the county, nine are owned by the city. Roughly half of those, like San Vicente Reservoir, are more than 50% full while others, like Lake Hodges, are only 12% full.
Carlos Quintero, general manager for Sweetwater Authority, said the water utility company, located in Chula Vista, “has been historically a surface water agency.” This means its relies on Mother Nature to get water.
According to Quintero, the agency serves about 192,000 people in western Chula Vista, National City and Bonita. He says they’ve been shifting to some groundwater use.
While Loveland Reservoir is about 95% full, Sweetwater Reservoir is at 41%.“We do hope that we get more storms this late winter, early spring, to really help us bring those levels up a little bit,” said Quintero.
The San Diego County Water Authority says as a region we can sustain ourselves for many dry years because of our imported water supplies. But that’s why it’s important that Northern California gets plenty of rain and snow, so the rest of the state can have enough supplies.
