PCWA Customers Slice Water Use 32 Percent

Auburn, Calif.  – Water use by Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) customers decreased 32.25% in June compared to the base year of 2013, meeting the state mandate.

The conservation results were presented to the PCWA Board of Directors at their meeting on July 16.

“Customer conservation efforts have been tremendous,” PCWA General Manager, Einar Maisch said. “I am very proud of how PCWA’s customers have responded to this record drought. Meeting the state mandate is no easy task. Lawns are brown everywhere, and I understand and appreciate the burden this is for our customers.”

The conservation mandate, ordered by the State Water Resources Control Board, went into effect June 1 and requires a 32% reduction in potable water use by PCWA customers. Conservation efforts are on track to exceed 32% for the month of July; through July 13, the agency and its customers have conserved approximately 36%.

Meeting Water Supply Demands

This year, PCWA has taken approximately 24,500 acre-feet from PG&E’s Drum Spaulding System and pumped another 14,500 acre-feet of its Middle Fork Project water from the American River. This has put the Agency in a position to cut back its pumping for the remainder of the year and allow more Middle Fork Project water to reach Folsom Reservoir, which is already projected to reach record low levels by the end of September.

“With the current level of conservation, storage in PG&E and Middle Fork Project reservoirs and with reserve pumping capacity, we will have no problem meeting PCWA customers’ needs for the remainder of the year,” said Maisch.

In other news, PCWA Directors:

• Heard an energy market report from PCWA Power Scheduling Manager, Ryan Cline. The drought has reduced Middle Fork Project energy production for the year to far below average. However, similarly reduced hydro production on the Columbia River in Washington, which normally supplies surplus power to California, has led to increased energy prices. The result is that energy revenue is still down significantly, but not as much as the Agency had feared.
• Heard from Eric Sapirstein and David French of ENS Resources, the agency’s federal legislative advocate, on pertinent legislative and regulatory issues affecting the agency.
• Recognized attorney Janet Goldsmith for more than 20 years of service as legal counsel to the agency.

The next regular meeting of the PCWA Board of Directors will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2015, at the PCWA Business Center, 144 Ferguson Road, in Auburn. PCWA board meetings are open to the public.

Information on PCWA board meetings may be obtained through the Clerk to the Board at (530) 823-4850 or (800) 464-0030.