How Full Are Santa Barbara’s Water Reservoirs?

Southern California Drought Produces Wildfire Conditions

Despite a very dry winter to date, in which Gibraltar Dam received just 0.36 inches of water instead of its average 7 inches, reservoirs in Santa Barbara and Goleta are kept full during fire weather. | Credit: City of Santa Barbara

Sparse winter rains have contributed to the devastating fires in Los Angeles, where this winter’s rainfall has measured in the tenths of inches. Locally, since September, about a third of an inch of rain has fallen at Gibraltar Reservoir, which is the third driest start to the rain year in the past 100 years, said Shawn Johnson, a hydrologist with the County of Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara County is at 18 percent of its normal-to-date rainfall, though Johnson pointed out that February and March tend to be the county’s wettest months. “Wet years are often defined by just two or three major storm systems,” he said, holding out hope that a few good storms might restore the year’s rain balance.

But a moderate to severe drought is prevailing across Southern California. The heavy rainfall during the past two years has moderated the effects somewhat — the creeks are still running, for example — but the effect on vegetation has brought moisture levels locally to near-critical levels.

This raises concerns in Santa Barbara about the ability to fight a wildfire during such dry conditions and whether the fire hydrants would continue to deliver water, an ability rumored to have been lost in the Pacific Palisades at the height of the current firefight.

“People might say the hydrants ‘ran out of water,’ but it doesn’t mean there was no water in the system,” said Captain Scott Safechuck of Santa Barbara County Fire. “A couple of things were going on,” Safechuck explained. “When a hundred engines are pulling from a water system, there will be a reduction in pressure. And this usually happens at higher elevations.”

After the past many fires throughout the county, they’ve developed plans against the loss of pressure in the heights. “Water tenders are assigned to support the fire engines,” Safechuck said. “Some of these hold 1,500 gallons and up to 3,000 gallons. Also, we have water shuttles where personnel and fire engines carry 500 gallons to the firefights.” How much water they need depends on the vegetation afire, if homes are engulfed, how many, and where it is.

The county’s Firehawk, a Blackhawk helicopter retrofitted for rescue and fire missions, was added to the roster a couple of years ago and adds speed and a capacity of 1,000 gallons of water. “For our area, Copter 964 makes repetitive drops much quicker because it can travel to and from a water source at a faster speed, especially during the initial attack on the fire,” Safechuck said.

[Click to enlarge]: Water hydrants rarely go “dry,” but along hillsides, water pressure can drop precipitously when many hydrants are providing water to fight fires. | Credit: Courtesy

As for water tanks and reservoirs, all those operated by the City of Santa Barbara are full of water for the winter, said Joshua Haggmark, who heads the city water division. “We’ve learned from the Tea Fire in 2008 and many, many others,” Haggmark said, when water pipes drained and home sprinklers activated in the fiery conditions. The division geo-located all the water mains after they found out how hard it was to find them after a disaster, and city water personnel now accompany firefighters into the field to turn the water mains off.

To the west, Goleta Water District’s general manager David Matson said their reservoirs are filled to capacity, as they are “when conditions indicate the potential for a wind event or when red flag conditions are expected.” Every hazardous weather event triggered a host of emergency and operating preparations, Matson said. “The District takes every precaution possible given the history of fire events in our community,” as well as learning from the “string of devastating disasters that have occurred in recent memory throughout the west.”

In Montecito, Nick Turner, general manager for the water district, said they continuously monitored the water supply for fire protection needs: “Montecito Water District has eight active reservoirs, all of which are operational. While it is our sincere hope that no additional water will be needed, reservoir levels are currently increased due to extreme weather events being forecast.”

The plentiful rainfall in past years restored the creeks and aquifers, while the heavy storms over the holidays also raised snow levels in the Sierra Nevada. The snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada — which supplies about a third of California’s fresh water — was measured to be at 127 percent of normal on January 13. Lest any hopes rise too high, water officials said they’d seen big snows turn into a dry winter before.

“We have a long way until April, when our water supply picture will be more complete,” said Karla Nemeth, Director of the state’s Water Resources department, during the first measurement of the year on January 2. “Extreme shifts between dry and wet conditions are continuing this winter, and if the past several years are any indication, anything could happen between now and April. And we need to be prepared.”