The series of storms in the past six weeks may help bring California close to breaking the back of  the current drought, but Councilman Dave Breitenbucher believes Manteca would be jeopardizing its future if the city doesn’t step up efforts to make sure water is used wisely.

“All in all, we’re doing OK right now,” Breitenbucher indicated during the council comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
That said, he noted a number of city residents — such as those advocating no front lawns allowed for any new construction — still have legitimate concerns about the prudent use of water supplies.

He also pointed to two Southern California cities — Wasco in Kern County and Ojai in Ventura County — that with each passing drought have found themselves in a more precarious situation when it comes to water supplies to support current population and sustain growth.

Breitenbucher asked the city staff as well as his council colleagues to keep efforts to pursue wise water use “on the radar” even when the current drought ends.

“Now is the time to look at water,” the councilman said, even though storms are bringing most state reservoirs up to historic averages for this time of the year.

Contacted after the meeting, Breitenbucher noted it is inevitable that more droughts will follow.

Manteca — and the rest of California — is now in its fifth stretch of drought since 1976. And with each passing drought, reservoirs have been dropping to new levels.

“We can’t wait for the state to build more dams.” Breitenbucher said.

Breitenbucher noted Manteca is in a somewhat better position than other cities given it has the ability to recharge its own water basin that it pumps from plus accesses surface water.

That said, Breitenbucher noted pending challenges Manteca faces when it comes to water includes:

*Meeting a looming state mandate that water basins remain neutral over the course of 12 months meaning municipalities  need to return as much water to the aquifer as they pump out for domestic use.

*Pressures on the Stanislaus River watershed that Manteca relies on partly for its water supply that goes beyond drought with such issues as increased unimpaired fish flows that could cut into availability for Manteca during dry years.

*Manteca’s growth that keeps increasing the future demand for water even as per capita use has dropped.

Manteca has a number of incentives such a rebate for low-flow toilets, low-water use washing machines, and turf replacement in place.

Breitenbucher’s request to keep water on the “radar” may mean stepping up those programs, especially turf replacement given residential lawns accounts for close to 40 percent of urban water use in most San Joaquin Valley cities.

It may also involve revisiting Manteca’s decision in 2015 to restrict new homes to only having up to 25 percent of the required front yard landscaping area in grass. The requirement that 35 percent of the front yard be landscaped remained intact.  

That includes possible reconsideration pf two options passed on at the time:

*Banning all lawn areas in front yards of new homes.

*Requiring existing homes that are sold to meet the new standard implemented in 2015 for new homes before they can close escrow. That means landscaped areas that don’t already meet the new requirements would have to have 75 percent of the lawn torn out and replaced with drought-resistant plants before an existing home could exchange hands.

While Breitenbucher isn’t recommending any specific course of action, he believes it is in the city’s best interest to consider all options to have more prudent water use going forward now instead of when they are in the middle of a crisis when options become limited.

The councilman’s water concerns comes on the heels of Manteca issuing permits for 785 new homes in 2022.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com