Thanks to recent rainstorms, the water level in Catalina Island’s main reservoir is now above the critically-low level that triggered extreme rationing requirements last summer.
The island is unique in that Southern California Edison controls the water supply. Executives there have yet to decide if the rationing mandate can be eased. Nonetheless, residents, city officials and business managers who have endured the rationing want things to change.
“It would be so nice to have a vegetable garden,” island resident Janice Hall said.
Hall and many others living in Avalon, the island’s only incorporated city, have had to reduce their water usage by 40 percent since early September. Besides losing out on her garden, Hall said residents have had to give up on inviting guests to their homes and even cut back on showering. Edison instituted what’s called Stage 3 rationing levels in early September after water levels in the island’s main reservoir fell below the 200 acre-foot level. Late January’s heavy rainfall dropped enough water on the island to bring the reservoir’s level to 283 acre feet.
That, however, has not yet signaled an all-clear for SCE to ease rationing requirements. The utility’s district manager for Catalina, Ron Hite, said a comprehensive measurement of groundwater levels needs to be completed before announcing a change.
In the meantime, he praised the efforts of residents who have taken up such efforts as switching from dishes to paper plates in order to comply with the rationing mandate.
“The island residents and visitors, as they come over, have been doing an excellent job in their level of rationing,” Hite said.
Improving the water supply
Catalina Island is the only place where the Rosemead-based Edison provides water. The utility has used desalination to transform the surrounding ocean water into a potable supply since 1991, and a second desalination plant opened in 2016.
Desalination has provided some respite for islanders whose pipes are connected to the plants. People who can receive desalinated in water in Avalon are subject to the 40 percent water use cut. Elsewhere in the city and on the rest of the island, Edison is requiring people to cut usage by half.
Hite said Edison is still working on plans to expand its desalination plants’ production capacity. The company is seeking state funding and permission to drill new salt water wells allowing the plants to produce greater volumes. Doing so could allow maximum daily production volumes to grow from 325,000 gallons to as much as 450,000 gallons.
In an email, Avalon City Manager David Jinkens said that City Hall wants the new wells, as well as storage capacity and a comprehensive water plan from SCE.
“The lack of action by SCE is creating hardships in Avalon that are avoidable and which SCE can solve. We will persevere,” Jinkens said.
Business outlook
Randy Herrel, Chief Executive of Santa Catalina Island Co., said he’s optimistic about the coming summer tourist season. The company is a major hotel operator on the island and he said the firm has benefited from a deal with Edison that allows the company to draw non-potable water from a golf course well for landscaping at Descanso Beach Club and other properties.
Santa Catalina Island Co. is continuing conservation measures that include sending hotel linens over the water to be washed on the mainland and saving any water that restaurant customers leave on their table to be used for mopping floors.
The company is also pursuing plans to drill another well to supply water for planned housing units for its employees. Herrel said the company wants to build 120 units to replace some existing employee housing and provide a net of about 50 new units.
Other Santa Catalina Island Co. plans include renovations for the Hotel Atwater and the installation of a new ropes course for tourists.
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