BVWD Drought FAQ - Bella Vista Water District

2014 DROUGHT
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
On February 27, 2014, after reviewing continued extreme drought conditions and receiving the
worst water supply allocation in the history of the Central Valley Project, the District's Board of
Directors conducted a public hearing and adopted a Resolution (14-03) declaring a Water
Shortage Emergency within the District. On April 28, 2014, the Board of Directors adopted
Resolution (14-04) superseding and revising shortage measures due to a slight improvement in
water supply conditions. On June 23, 2014, the Board of Directors adopted Resolution (14-05)
superseding and revising shortage measures due to slightly improved conditions, which remain
in effect to this day. The severity of the current statewide drought requires significant action by
the community to reduce system-wide water use to avoid exhausting our limited water supply!
On July 15, 2014 the State Water Resources Control Board approved an emergency regulation to
ensure water suppliers, their customers and state residents increase water conservation in urban
settings. Adopted State Water Resources Control Board Resolution and Emergency Regulations
1.
Why is the drought so severe for Bella Vista Water District?
Most of the entire State of California is now in an exceptional drought. The District has a
water service contract and receives its water supply primarily from the Central Valley
Project (CVP), operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. This year, the CVP water
supply allocation is the worst in the history of the project with zero water allocation to
Agriculture (Irrigation) Customers and only 50% of historic use allocated to nonagricultural, municipal and industrial purposes. This is the most severe water shortage in
the history of the District!
U.S. Drought Monitor - California
Central Valley Project Water Supply Portal
2.
What is the District doing to augment supply?
The District has a total of five groundwater wells that are being utilized at maximum
capacity and has a long-term water transfer agreement with another agency that has less
severe CVP contract shortage provisions. Additionally, the District has purchased water
from another water agency under a short-term water transfer agreement. Another source
of supply the District has previously purchased and utilized was not offered to the District
for purchase this year.
3.
Why are some Agencies/Districts more impacted than others due to the drought?
Depending on their source of supply, some agencies are affected less by this drought.
Agencies that rely solely on groundwater have little or no impacts, as long as groundwater
levels are maintained and not over pumped. Agencies that rely on surface water are far
more impacted due to historically low snowpack and reservoir storage levels. Additionally,
there is tremendous variability in shortage provisions among agencies depending on their
water right entitlements or contract terms. Generally, water rights in California are based
on the principle, “first in time, first in right.” Bella Vista Water District has very limited
groundwater resources and is highly reliant on surface water through a CVP water service
contract with severe contract shortage provisions based on the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation’s CVP water shortage policy.
For additional information see:
2014 Drought: Impacts and Strategies for Resilience, Association of CA Water Agencies
CVP Water Contracts Fact Sheet, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
CVP (M&I) Water Shortage Policy, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
4.
Why are you using penalty tiers?
The basic concept of water rationing is that each utility customer is given a certain
allotment of water, expressed in billing units, to use in a billing period. If they use the
amount they are allotted or less, charges for water are calculated at the normal rate. If they
exceed their allotment, the portion in excess of their allotment is charged a penalty rate.
The penalty rate may be broken into multiple tiers so the more the excess usage, the higher
the penalty price per HCF used. The purpose is not to generate revenue but rather to use
water pricing as a way to motivate the customer to modify their usage to stay within their
allotment and avoid being penalized, which most customers do. Those that don't reduce
water use are charged for their overuse at the penalty rates.
5.
What if there was no historic use at my location and/or the house was vacant for any of
the 3-year history?
24 HCF is the minimum allotment per billing period and is based on 75 gallons/person/day
(GPCD) and assumes 4 people per residential dwelling.
6.
Does the “Excessive use Penalty Chart” replace the tier’s that BVWD was using?
Yes. The Penalty tiers replaced the non-shortage tiers and are intended to strongly
discourage overuse of your allotment in order to ensure that the District’s water supplies
are not exhausted before the end of the 2014-15 water year (February 28, 2015). Currently,
there is very little water supply available to replace overuse.
7.
If the Resolution starts on May 1st and if we get billed in middle or end of May how are
you prorating our bill and how are you figuring our allotment?
The drought allotments became effective immediately following the reading of your water
meter in March or April of 2014. The billing that you have received in May or June will
reflect your water use after the date of your March or April meter reading. Usage charges
on all billings after May 1, 2014, will reflect your drought allotments and penalty tiers.
8.
Are you going to provide the allotment for each customer can use on their bills.
In May, the District did a special mailing to each customer of the District that included
their allotments for each billing period. (Note: the allotment quantities at that time were
based on a minimum bimonthly allotment of 20 HCF and plus 70 percent of the average
use for the same billing period over the previous 3 years.) The current allotments for
Residential and Rural customers is a minimum of 24 HCF bimonthly, (based on 75
gallons/person/day assuming a family of four) or, 85 percent of the average use for the
same billing period over the previous 3 years, whichever is greater.
9.
How do we as customers know what we can use before we get penalized?
Following the Board’s adoption of Resolution 14-04 on April 28, 2014, revising the
allotments and shortage measures, staff mailed each customer their specific historic use
and allotment. Note: the allotments were revised by Resolution 14-05 (adopted in June 23,
2014) and for all customers are now at 85 percent of the average use for the same
bimonthly billing period over the previous 3 years (with a minimum bimonthly allotment of
24 HCF for Rural and Residential customers). It will be necessary for each customer to
calculate their revised allotment and to read their water meter to keep their water usage
from exceeding the remaining allotment through their bimonthly billing period (typically
58 to 62 days). The dates that meters are scheduled to be read are available on the District
webpage under the “Drought” tab.
Useful Links: Meter Read Dates, Water Use Tracking Tool (Excel)
10.
Does the historical usage calculation follow the meter usage and not just up to when a
new customer signed up for service?
The historical usage, defined as the prior three unconstrained years, is calculated using the
usage history for the meter that is serving the property. In other words, usage is associated
with the meter and property, not the customer.
11.
Can you provide an example allotment?
Example is as follows for Residential and Rural Customers are as follows:
Water Year (March through February) Meter Water Use (HCF)
WY2011-12 =
28
WY2012-13 =
30
WY2013-14 =
32
Total =
90
Divide by 3 to get the average =
30
Multiply Average Historical Use (above) by 85% = 25.5
Resultant allotment for billing period =
25.5 HCF
12.
Where can I find conservation ideas and more information?
Please check our website: http://www.bvwd.org/
For a weekly update on statewide drought conditions, click here.
For water conservation ideas indoors, click here, for outdoors, click here.
If you are going to plant, take a look at some of the "Real People, Real Savings" on the
Save Our Water website, for drought-friendly landscape ideas.
Additional Statewide Drought Information:
• U.S. Drought Monitor - California
• U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Central Valley Project Water Supply
• California's Drought News Portal
• Cal OES weekly Drought Briefing
• Department of Water Resources Drought Homepage
• Drought 2014: What You Need To Know

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