The ferocious winter storm that flooded roadways and knocked down old Eucalyptus trees in South County has helped with water conservation measures.
The San Diego County Water Authority in the past few months has officially declared an end to the five-year long water drought.
While the drought appears to be over, the California Water Resources Control board still believes water agencies and users need to conserve water.
The drought is no more because of conservation methods by local water agencies and because of the abundance of rain this winter.
Otay Water District Board member Mitch Thompson said when there is rain it causes less water to be used by customers.
“It obviously decreases the demand [ for water] because a lot of people are watering their landscapes a lot less,” he said.
The Otay Water District provides water parts of the city of Chula Vista, in particularly Eastlake, Salt Creek, San Miguel Ranch, Sunbow and Otay Ranch.
Despite the reduction in water use throughout the rainy season, Thompson said water rates would not decrease.
“There is no direct correlation between water rates and the amount of water that rains,” he said.
Thompson said fixed costs associated with infrastructure and amoritzation cost account when deciding water rates. He also said the water agency must take into account whether there can be enough revenue to meet financial demands.
The Otay Water District last raised their rates in the middle of last year.
The Otay Water District gets one-third of their water from the Oroville Dam in Northern California and two-thirds of water from the Colorado River.
Being that the Otay Water District does not get its water from local reservoirs, rain in Chula Vista does not impact Otay Water’s reservoirs. Instead rain in Northern California and Colorado helps Otay Water’s reservoirs.
“Statewide the amount of rain that is coming in is having a profound impact on our supplies.”
Sweetwater Authority, which provides water to about 186,000 customers in National City, Bonita , western and central Chula Vista, has local resevoirs and has benefitted from the rain.
“We always think of rain as pennies from heaven, which is a good thing because it essentially is free water,” said Jose Cerda, board member with the South Bay Irrigation District. “It comes down and we try to accumulate as much of it.”
The South Bay Irrigation District is under the same umbrella as Sweetwater Authority and oversees water usage in western Chula Vista.
