Latest Water Supply Update

EBMUD, like other water districts in California, is fortunate that 2011 was a wet year. Though reservoirs in the Sierra and East Bay were full with water last fall, an unusually dry January and February raised concerns about water shortage, since EBMUD reservoirs only hold enough water to meet customer needs for about two years.

Luckily, spring rains -- an unusually wet March -- improved water supply levels. While reservoirs are not completely refilled, the outlook is good.

This year's dry winter is a good reminder that conserving water is the first choice and easiest way to stretch water supplies. Remember to continue to conserve precious water. The WaterSmart Center has tips to help all customers reduce water use.

Precipitation Statistics

Ninety percent of EBMUD's water supply comes from the Mokelumne River watershed in the Sierra Nevada. Last winter, the Mokelumne watershed basin received more than 66 inches of precipitation (188 percent of average). This season is drier, with 27.5 inches which is 62 percent of average. District reservoirs are 78 percent full, with Pardee Reservoir 98 percent full; Camanche Reservoir at 57 percent; and overall District water storage is at 582,560 acre-feet. EBMUD expects about one million acre feet of runoff less this year compared to last.

• January: after a dry December we recieved 13.52 inches of rain in January in the Mokelumne Basin.
• February: remained dry, with only 2.67 inches of precipitation.
• March: above average (and much needed) rain and snow totaled 9.22 inches.
• April: as of Sunday, April 22 at midnight, we received an additional 3.23 inches of precpitation this month.

Board Briefings and Water Supply Fact Sheet

The documents below are PDF files which can be viewed and printed with Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free software utility.