Town of 15,000 is days away from running out of potable water.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Amidst one of the worst droughts in California’s history, the community of Mountain House is days away from having no water at all after the state cut off its only water source.
The community’s sole source of water, the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District, was one of 114 senior water rights holders cut off by a curtailment notice from the state on Friday, reported CBS Sacramento.
“We’re out there looking for water supplies as we speak,†said Mountain House general manager Ed Pattison. “We have storage tanks, but those are basically just to ensure the correct pressurization of the distribution system. No more than 2 days are in those storage tanks.â€
Mountain House leaders must find someone to sell them water, hopefully, the GM says, to have enough until the end of the year for the city’s 15,000 residents.
“We don’t want this town to become a ghost town, it was a beautiful master-planned community,†he said.
The state’s so-called “curtailments†require water users to cease diversions within seven days, or face penalties up to $1,000 per day. However, the state says it will consider — on a case-by-case basis — allowing some water to be delivered for health and human safety purposes, reported The Record of Stockton, Calif.
Finding surplus water could prove difficult. At least one such potential seller, the Manteca-based South San Joaquin Irrigation District, has water stored in New Melones Lake, but that water has to be used within the district itself unless special permission is obtained from the state, The Record revealed.