Crescenta Valley Water District’s Large Meter Replacement Program and Rainfall

Crescenta Valley Water District will be expanding its advanced metering infrastructure program by replacing three-inch and four-inch meters for apartment/condominiums and park irrigation. Starting next week, you will see crews working in traffic medians, parks and large multi-family dwellings to switch out old meters to new, more efficient smart meters. This project, which will take place over the next several months, will result in improved water reliability, better water data and increased public awareness of water use and supports several long-term planning goals, including the District’s 2015 and 2021 Urban Water Management Plan. This project is partially funded by a grant from the Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau selected 82 applicants across the 16 western states for WaterSMART small-scale efficiency projects to help local communities make water efficiency improvements. The grant will fund $75,000 of the $200,000 project.

How much rain was that? So far, that’s a season total of 39.34 inches. Last year at this time, rainfall was 14.73 inches. La Crescenta has not seen this much rain since the 2004-05 rainfall year and before that it was the 1992-93 rainfall year.

Statewide the water supply improvements are even more dramatic. Northern Sierra precipitation exceeds the wettest year on record by 25 inches and snowpack is 30% above average. As a result, imported regional water supplies will be adequate to meet projected demands and additional water is being stored in regional reservoirs.

With the increased rainfall and snowpack, there has been improvement in State Water Project (SWP) supplies. The SWP allocation increased to 75% on Friday, March 24.

Though conditions have improved on the State Water Project, Southern California is seeing a very different story on our other source of imported water, the Colorado River. More than two decades of drought and severely dry conditions have caused reservoirs to drop to historic low levels, jeopardizing water supply and power generation that the southwest relies on. The Colorado River is no longer insurance against shortages in our other water supplies. Therefore, we need to continue to use water wisely.

There is still time to take advantage of all this rain. Sign up for the next rain barrel event on April 22. Rain barrels are $65 – $75, but $35 rebates are available through Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. To pre-order your rain barrel, visit RainBarrelsIntl.com, click the “EVENTS” tab and select CVWD or call (919) 602-6316.