Water District 29 should know by next week whether increased rain in January has continued a trend of heightened water conservation in Malibu, an area in which residents have struggled to meet high state-imposed demands for water cuts.
During the Jan. 25 meeting, District Engineer Dave Rydman presented December conservation numbers to City Council, showing a slight uptick in conservation over a dismal November, during which only 12 percent less water was used than the corresponding month in 2013. The December conservation number was 17 percent.
“For the month of December, the level of conservation achieved was 17 percent, as compared to December of 2013,” Rydman said. “That is an increase from where we were in November, where we hit a low of 12 percent, so at least we’re back going in the right direction, but still well below the 36 percent that the state had required.”
Mayor Laura Rosenthal speculated that perhaps the uptick was due to some El Niño-driven rain storms that had swept through Malibu in the last month of 2015.
“I know it rained in December, so I think that’s why our numbers went up,” Rosenthal said.
Data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show 0.03 inches of rain fell in the Oxnard region (which includes Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains) in November. Ten times that amount fell in December — 0.35 inches.
So what will January numbers show?
If Rosenthal’s predictions are correct, Malibu’s conservation will be up — way up. That’s because a whopping 3.09 inches of rain fell in Malibu last month. That is another order of magnitude jump from December.
It is also crucial that conservation stays on the minds of water users, Rydman said.
“The governor has extended the mandatory restrictions through October of 2016,” Rydman announced. “They were originally set to sunset at the end of February, but because of the [lower than expected] rainfall so far this year, he has extended them through October.
“There is a chance that that changes if the weather patterns change throughout California, but right now it’s through October.”
So far, District 29 has averaged 21 percent conservation in the six months since mandatory restrictions came into effect. December marks the first month conservation has increased since July, a trend officials hope to see continue in the coming months.
In July, Malibu cut water use by 27 percent, but by November that number was more than halved. There is hope that with continued rainfall Malibu may still have a chance of meeting the governor’s 36 percent target.
Since the “water year,” according to NOAA, began on Oct. 1, the Oxnard region has only hit 49 percent of its average rainfall. This number may increase if more El Niño-driven storms come through the area in the next few months.