As of January 31, 2015, Lake McClure has hit an all-time low water surface elevation of 587 feet above sea level. McClure is at the lowest level of all major reservoirs in the state. Due to the continued instream flow requirements below New Exchequer Dam, between 160 and 230 acre feet of water per day is discharged from the lake to the Delta. As a result, the lake continues to drop at a rate of one foot every two to three days. At this rate, the LDPCSD water supply will be depleted between March 15 and April 15, 2015. MID has a request in to the Department of Water Resources, requesting that the instream flow requirements be reduced (See attached letter from MID to DWR Director Mark Cowan); and we are closely monitoring this request. On January 30, 2015 we conducted a site tour with the State OES and County Emergency Management Staff; visiting our water intake system on Lake McClure, potential groundwater well sites and proposed deep water intake locations on both Lake McClure and Don Pedro. All agencies continue to focus on LDPCSD as the highest priority community in the state due to the extreme circumstances.2 MANDATORY WATER CONSERVATION AND OUTREACH
On December 3, 2104 the District adopted mandatory water conservation measures, with a requirement for 30% reduction in water usage. To date, customers are becoming educated on the issues, calling the office and visiting the website for current information. The outreach actions completed to date on the water supply issue include:
(1) Mailed notice to all customers. A form was provided to receive information from customers on special water needs, large families, livestock or commercial water needs, etc.
(2) Community meeting scheduled FEBRUARY 14, 2015, 10:00 a.m. at the Lake Don Pedro Homeowners Association, Hacienda. All residents are encouraged to attend to hear a water supply update. (3) Internal preparations being made for increased water conservation requirements to 50%.
3 EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
(1) Preparing to complete electrical system improvements on emergency barge pump system.
(2) Second booster pump ordered and currently designing electrical and piping connections.
(3) All materials and supplies in stock and on hand to extend the barge pumps to the river bottom.
(4) Entered into engineering contract with Kennedy Jenks for completion of deep water intake/alternate water supply evaluation and associated grant application with a 60 day completion requirement.
(5) Selecting 12 to 15 test well drilling sites with well drilling contractor, hydro geologist and engineering team on Wednesday, February 4, 2015. Permitting process starts before this week’s end.
(6) Contacting several existing well owners with purchase/lease proposal to secure immediate supply.
(7) Received state grant commitments of $200,000 from DWR for Well installation and $60,000 from SWRCB for emergency electrical cable and piping.
