Southern California Edison will ease its severe water rationing mandate for much of Avalon after last month’s storms brought much-needed rainwater to Catalina Island.
SCE announced the changes during Tuesday evening’s meeting of Avalon’s City Council, according to SCE spokesman Robert Laffoon Villegas.
Prolonged drought conditions resulted in SCE imposing what are called Stage 3 drought restrictions in September. That resulted in most Avalon residents — those who are served by the utility’s desalination plants — being required to cut their water consumption by 40 percent. All others on Catalina had to reduce their water use by half.
As of Tuesday, islanders who receive desalinated water, or who have water piped in from the island’s Middle Ranch Reservoir, only have to reduce their consumption by one-quarter of baseline water use levels.
Some restrictions on what SCE called nonessential uses will remain in effect.
The change benefits more than 90 percent of SCE’s customers on the island, according to the utility. Those customers include people using water in Hamilton Cove, a large residential development that’s not connected to the island’s desalinated water supply, as well as the island’s Middle Canyon area.
Beyond Avalon and Middle Canyon, however, will remain subject to the full Stage 3 rationing mandate. SCE plans to monitor Catalina’s underground aquifers and wells over the course of several weeks to determine if those customers also can have their rationing requirements eased.
SCE’s district manager for Catalina, Ron Hite, has said that over the longer term, the utility is seeking permission and funding from state officials to dig new salt water wells that would make it possible to increase output from the island’s two desalination plants.
Avalon Councilman Joe Sampson on Tuesday voiced frustration with SCE since, in his view, the utility has not shared sufficient details of its long-term plans with City Hall.
Resident and former Avalon city attorney Pam Albers said Wednesday that SCE may have more success obtaining grant dollars from the state if the utility can show its working closely with city government.
“They would increase their opportunity by partnering with the city, but if you’re not letting the city know what you’re doing, it makes it hard to partner,” she said.
When SCE announced Stage 3 rationing last year, the water level in the island’s main reservoir had been so depleted as to fall below 200 acre feet.
January storms added 146 acre feet to that supply, bringing the water level to 283 acre feet. That’s 27 percent of the Middle Ranch Reservoir’s capacity.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct information on which areas of Catalina will be subjected to relaxed water rationing.
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