Anonymous
Source: Montecito Water Protection District
While rainfall was relatively light over Montecito and Summerland during the night, Jameson Lake received an additional 1.63” over its watershed, causing Juncal Dam to spill this morning at approximately 4:30 A.M. (February 3, 2019). Spilling for the first time since 2011, the lake is now at 100% capacity, approximately 5,144 acre-feet with its storage elevation of 2,223.87 feet. This is great news for the District’s water supply, although water quality issues resulting from the Thomas Fire incident remain a challenge.
No major system damage was identified on Saturday, February 2, 2019, as Montecito Water District’s field crews worked from dawn until dark inspecting pipelines and other critical infrastructure.
For additional information and updates visit www.montecitowater.com, like Montecito Water District on Facebook, and follow on twitter @MontecitoWater.
Great news. We had a friend the caretaker there, 50 years ago. We went when the dam was spilling and our friend let us fish in the pond just below it. Our children (5, 6, &7 yrs)were thrilled, their first fishing experience and the fish coming over were biting like crazy.
I hope that it is spinning a turbine and making some electricity for our grid.. great source of carbon free energy.
It spills for a few weeks every few years. Probably not near worth putting in a generator and transmission lines.
Pitmix: 1. State Water is available to us in competition with others. If competitors have water they either don’t get a share or sell it to more needy folks. For the past decade or so the northern part of the state has had excess water. The only reason there is not even more excess is that big agriculture has decided to grow water intensive crops (alfalfa, almonds and such) in places that were not being cultivated before. Their “need” for water accounts for about 90% of the demand. If they only were more appropriate in their use of the stuff (no flood irrigation for example) there would be enough for even them. As it is, we are being frightened into expenditures that are not needed and benefit really rich and profitable corporations.
2. We do not live on Cachuma water and have not done so for a couple of decades. People are being frightened by pictures of a low level and imagine us drinking muddy remnants. State Water (as noted) is constantly being put into this reservoir and is then released to the Santa Ynez River and south coast people. Don’t fall for the photos. It is more like emptying your toilet tank and then watching it refill.
3. Desal is mostly for the benefit of the company that has sold us that system and will continue to sell us the costly maintenance as well as Montecito people who have been stopped from pumping our their own ground water and now want more of this stuff for their estates. Amazingly they actually got SB to pay for a huge share of this expansion which is all for them.
4. Desal is harmful to the environment both in the intake process and the discharge of the highly toxic brine. These things happen in the shallow waters were most marine life is created and lives.
5. Recycling of sewage is a better proposition as it avoids both the items of problem 4 AND reduces the amount of treated sewage being sent into the ocean near our beaches and fisheries.
6. ETC.
Environmental regulations prohibit transporting the reservoir silt, which makes its removal far too costly. Why not transport it build sea wall to protect against rising sea levels?
That must really hurt to have a sharp metal hook in your throat.
So glad we are spending another $100M on desalination. Rain is erratic by season in CA but reliable over long term. In addition we have, of course, state water which has a mostly full capacity and large amounts of snow melt waiting. Fools never learn.
I too am impressed by our city and county staff for taking advantage of the record low levels in our reservoirs over the last 8 years to remove the massive amounts of debris and silt build-up that has impacted their capacity. (sarcasm)
Please show a little skepticism to what the City tells us. They have an agenda to build edifices, not necessarily to do what needs to be done. For example, replacing the main water lines in a more timely fashion would be extremely cost effective but is not being done as it is not “sexy” enough.