Politics & Government

2012 Has Been an Unusually Dry Year: EBMUD Worried About Water Supplies

Poll: Should the district needs to take action to protect its water supplies?

This year has been usually dry, East Bay Municipal Utility District say, and another dry winter could spell trouble because the district's reservoirs only hold enough water to meet customers' needs for two years. In a recent report, EBMUD notes that we're fortunate that 2011 was a wet one. 

Despite above average rainfall in March, officials are casting a wary eye at their reservoirs and snowpack and they say we may need to make a decision in late April whether to take action to protect the district's water supplies.

District officials reported that their reservoirs are at 73 percent of capacity, a status they denoted as only "fair." We've attached a poll to this story, asking for your opinion on what action the district should take.

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The rainfall in its East Bay watershed is 36 percent of normal and 46 percent of the statewide average. 

EBMUD serves 1.3 million customers in a 331-square-mile area that includes western Contra Costa County, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, Castro Valley, the San Ramon Valley, Walnut Creek and Lamorinda.

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