Tough new standards aimed at forcing urban water supplies to step up efforts to reduce water loss in their distribution systems were adopted Wednesday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
The new standards are designed to save 88,000 acre feet of water that are lost each year in California essentially to leaks and broken pipes.
The new rules requiring suppliers to monitor and reduce leakage in their distribution systems once implemented are expected to save enough water annually to supply over 260,000 households.
Manteca’s municipal water system incurs an annual water loss of 7 percent.
While that might seem high, it is more than half of the national average of 16 percent for municipal water systems.
The data is gleaned from annual water audits and water loss control for public water systems required by both the Environmental Protection Agency as well as the State of California.
The 7 percent loss of water that is treated and distributed by the city reflects leakage from transmission and distribution mains, leakage and overflows from the water system’s storage tanks and leakage from service connections up to and including the meter.
The city in 2021 treated 4.8 billion gallons of water.
Of that, 2.15 billion gallons was surface water provided by the South San Joaquin irrigation District through water rights the agency holds on the Stanislaus River.
The remaining 2.65 billion gallons were pumped from groundwater sources via 15 municipal wells.
The city added surface water more than 15 years ago.
To reduce costs and also ease pressure on groundwater, Manteca typically relies 100 percent on surface water during the winter months and adds ground water pumping to the mix in the spring, summer and fall.
The city’s water system encompasses:
*More than 300 miles of pipeline.
*26,000 service connections.
*8,000 valves.
*2,000 fire hydrants.
The city in August also adopted tougher water use regulations:
*Allowed outdoor watering has been reduced from three to two days a week.
That means even-numbered addresses will be allowed to irrigate on Tuesday and Saturday. Odd-numbered addresses will be allowed to irrigate on Wednesday and Sunday. No irrigation will be allowed on Monday, Thursday, and Friday.
*Run-off from irrigating turf and such is essentially prohibited.
The new rule prohibits it from going onto sidewalks — public and private — streets, driveways, or adjoining property.
*Turf at commercial, industrial and institutional locations such as hospitals can no longer be irrigated with potable water except for carved out exceptions where it is used for recreation and such.
The new rules make exceptions for the golf course, Manteca Unified schools, and other locations allowed for under the state emergency order issued June 10.
*Prohibits recreational activities that require a constant flow of water.
Staff referenced Slip ‘n’ Slides as one use is be banned. .
*Exempts landscape irrigation exclusively using drip or micro spray systems from the scheduled watering days.
*Restricts evaporative coolers without a recycled pump.
The city ordinance calls for a warning on the first offense, a $50 fine on the second offense, a $100 fine on the third offense, and a $250 fine on every offense thereafter.
As part of their enforcement effort, the city has added a hotline (209-456-8410) for citizens to call to report violations of the drought rules in addition to online reporting.
The ongoing drought is requiring Manteca reduce its water use by 20 percent — as do other jurisdictions throughout the state — to comply with the emergency order issued by the state.
If the rules don’t get the desired reduction and/or the drought continues to deepen there are two more stages that the state has in place with the most severe being the rationing of water if it comes to that.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
