Monthly Water Tracker

As of December 2022

On December 1, 2022, the California Department of Water Resources announced an initial State Water Project allocation of 5% of contract amount for 2023. An initial Central Valley Project allocation for 2023 has not come out yet. In 2022, both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project have allocated Valley Water with emergency public health and safety water supplies. Santa Clara County continues to be in a water shortage emergency. Due to severe drought and increased reliance on imported water in the next 10 years while Anderson Reservoir storage is unavailable, meeting the Board of Directors call for 15% water use reduction relative to 2019 is essential.

Weather

• Rainfall in Santa Clara County
  • Month of November, City of San José: 2.05 inches
• Rainfall year total = 2.56 inches or 104% of average to date (rainfall year is July 1 to June 30)
• San José average daily high temperature was 64.7 degrees Fahrenheit in November, which is lower than the five-year average for November (68.2 degrees Fahrenheit)

Local Reservoirs

Current local reservoir storage

• Total December 1 storage: 23,928 acre-feet

  
• No imported water delivered into Calero Reservoir during November 2022
• Total estimated releases to streams (local and imported water) during November were 2,530 acre-feet (based on preliminary hydrologic data)

Groundwater

Groundwater levels have stabilized in much of the county and continue to increase in many areas due to Valley Water's managed recharge operations and ongoing water conservation by the community.  Groundwater levels in many monitoring wells are currently higher than last month and November 2021.  The end of 2022 groundwater storage is projected to be in low Stage 1 (Normal) of the Water Shortage Contingency Plan

Imported Water

• In November, the State Water Project operated Banks pumping plant with an average daily export of 1,294 AF, resulting in a total export of 37,536 AF from the delta
• In November, the Central Valley Project operated Jones pumping plant with an average daily export of 2,718 AF, resulting in a total export of 78,830 AF from the delta
• There were no interruptions to delta pumping operations, due to water quality or otherwise, during the month of November
  

Click here to find the State-Wide Reservoir Storage map and table

Treated Water

• Below average demands of 4,980 acre-feet delivered in November
• This total is 70% of the five-year average for the month of November
• Year-to-date deliveries are 84,370 acre-feet or 88% of the five-year average

Conserved Water

• Saved 76,584 acre-feet in FY21 through Valley Water's long-term conservation program (baseline year is 1992)
• Long-term program goal is to save nearly 100,000 acre-feet by 2030 and 110,000 acre-feet by 2040
• On June 9, 2021, the Board called for a 15% reduction in water use compared to 2019 and for retailers, cities, and the County to implement local water restrictions.  On May 24, 2022, the Board approved an ordinance to enforce outdoor water waste restrictions against runoff, midday watering, and watering after rainfall, and a limit of two days a week of watering for non-functional turf.  On September 13, 2022, this ordinance was amended to include the State's ban against watering commercial, industrial, and institutional non-functional turf amongst its list of enforceable restrictions
• The water savings achieved are shown in the table below
  

Recycled Water

• Estimated November 2022 production = 929 acre-feet
• Estimated year-to-date through November = 16,369 acre-feet or 101% of the five-year average
• Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center produced an estimated 1.7 billion gallons (5,150 acre-feet) of purified water in 2021.  Since the beginning of 2022, about 4,657 acre-feet of purified water has been produced.  The purified water is blended with existing tertiary recycled water for South Bay Water Recycling Program customers

Alternative Sources

• As of December 10, 2019, Valley Water's wastewater contract right from Palo Alto/Mountain View remains at 11,200 acre-feet/year