Pay My Bill

General Manager’s Report -December

Shareholders:

Production
Production from our wells was slightly higher in November than last year, but lower than 2014. We started purchasing water
from CCWD in November 2015, and it has had a very beneficial impact on our well recovery.
Drawdown
Well drawdown is the amount of available water in our well for pumping. It is expressed in feet of water above the pump
intake. It’s like an underground storage tank. Here are the numbers.
December 2015  -92 feet above the pump intake.
December 2016  -160 feet above the pump intake. This means we have a
lot more water available for use this year, and next.
Usage
Here are the usage numbers for November, going back to 2013.
  • 2013  3,822,000 gallons
  • 2014  2,946,000 gallons
  • 2015  2,710,000 gallons
  • 2016  2,842,000 gallons
Drought
In 2013 we had no drought restrictions, and you can see that the usage was quite high, stressing our wells to the point that
we had to ask CCWD for assistance, so that we could rest them for a month.
In 2014 we began our Drought Action Plan, and initiated Stage two of that plan, which called for limited watering every
other day, reduce usage by 20%. By implementing these restrictions, we were able to supply water to our shareholders
from our wells without assistance from CCWD, but lack of rainfall and snowpack for the three years previous, warned us
that 2015 was going to be a rough year for us. So in 2015 we initiated Stage 3 water conservation measures which allowed
no outside watering. This is reflected in the November 2015 usage, compared to 2013.
In 2016 we dropped restrictions to Stage 2, of
our Drought Action Plan to allow for outside watering 3 days a week, reduce
use by 20%.
By the end of this year, we will be about equal with 2014 usage.
I am glad we are having good rainfall so far this season, and I have recommended to the Board that we remain in Stage 2 of
our Drought Plan for 2017.
Freeze Ups
There is nothing worse that arriving at you cabin for the weekend and finding water running all over the place inside your
house. Please winterize if you are going to be away for a while, and shutoff and drain your cabin if you are coming up on
weekends. The temperature has been in the 20’s at night lately so freezing pipes are likely to occur. The heater won’t work
if there is a power failure.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year, Happy Holidays to all!

David Hicks
General Manager
Blue Lake Springs Mutual Water Co.
P.O.Box 6015, Arnold, CA 95223
Ph: (209) 795-7025