March 2016 Update

Dear Member:

Chamber of Commerce Weather

March was a wonderful month at Belmont Country Club Estates.  Temperatures were near the normal average high of a 70 degrees.  Easter Sunday was a particularly beautiful day. 

We saw it rain early in the month with a total of 2.97", nearly an inch over the average for March.  The Fresno area is now above the average total accumulated rainfall for the year.

Annual Meeting

Thank you to all attending the Belmont Water Corporation annual meeting.  We had a good turnout with enough members and proxies to make it an official meeting.  Increases to the annual water assessment were announced, from $540 to $600 for small lots and $700 to $850 for large lots.

The following members were elected to the board:

• Dave Bigelow
• Mike Emigh
• Mike Gerosa
• Chris Moi
• John Paige

Ryan Montag subsequently volunteered to serve along with those elected. 

New Neighbors

We have new faces in the neighborhood.  Rodney and Kelli Attkisson purchased and moved into the neighborhood at 8281 E Sanders Ct.  A baby boy, Liam, was born to Sean and Chayphet Marzoff on January 29th.  Welcome to Belmont Country Club Estates.

Watering Rules

With the warming weather, it's time to start increasing the watering time for our lawns and gardens.  Once again, we will only be watering three days per week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

An article written by the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department of the University of California, calculated the amount of water needed to keep Bermuda grass lawn alive and green in Fresno, California. On average, sprays put out 1.5 inches of water an hour and the larger gear drives put out .5 inches of water per hour with the water pressure our pump develops. Based on a guide published for the San Joaquin Valley, the weekly amount of water required can be applied by sprinklers outputting 1.5 inches of water in about 20 minutes per day 3 times per week in July and or 55 minutes per day with sprinklers outputting .5 inches.  In April, the average needs are 60% of the amount of water required in July.  There is a table on the web site home page that gives the percent of watering required for each month of the year.  If your controller has a seasonal adjustment, as mine has, it's easy to make the timing adjustments to your sprinklers.

Please instruct your gardeners to follow the BWC rules for days of watering.  Sprinkler timers should be evaluated and reset after power outages.  Board members are available to assist with timers and sprinkler settings.

It is very important to contact a board member if you have a break in your sprinkler line and do not have a back flow preventer.  Bacteria can be back flushed into the water and contaminate the entire distribution system.

Water Conservation

Water usage in March continues to be much lower than last year and the target. Usage was 30% better than the target and 44% better than last year. For the year, we are 33% better than the target and 37% better than last year. Click here for a larger view.

Snowpack survey finds Sierra Nevada at 95 percent of normal, but drought endures

San Gabriel Valley Tribune


When Frank Gehrke trudged up to Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada on Wednesday he found what was missing at this time last year: Snow. Read more at CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog.

Making Rain

The LA public works department actually worked with a Utah based company to  make more rain from one of the recent past storms as reported by ABC News.  

Read more...

February Update

Dear Member:

February was one of the driest on record...

February was a Chamber of Commerce month with sunny skies and temperatures averaging 5 degrees higher than the normal 63. Unfortunately, January's rain deluge was followed by a mere pittance of .33", all of which fell on one day.  Normal rainfall for February is 1.89". 

According to at USA Today report, the monthly snow survey near Echo Summit Tuesday reflected a disappointingly dry February.  Although the water content of the snow at Phillips Station is 105 percent of normal for early March, most of the other reporting stations show below-average snow pack.  The statewide average is only 83 percent of normal for March 1.

Annual Membership Meeting - Reminder

The Belmont Water Corporation Annual Membership Meeting will be held at 6:00 PM on March 10, 2016 at Belmont Country Club, 8253 East Belmont Ave, Fresno, California 93737.  Appetizers and a no-host bar will be provided with the meeting beginning immediately following.  Please plan on attending a quorum is needed to make the meeting official. If you can't attend the meeting, please send in your proxy.

Well Depth

In one of his last official acts as President of BWC, Kelly and I measured the depth of water in the well in mid-February.  I'm happy to report that the water was at the 75' level, a recovery of 2' since last September.

Water Usage

As you can see in the chart below, water usage in January was the lowest recorded, 32% better than the target and 16% better than last year. For the year, we are 34% better than the target and 30% better than last year.  Click here for a larger view.

Dry February drops snowpack below normal, drought pushing toward fifth year

Fresno Bee

An extremely dry February has lowered the Sierra Nevada snowpack to below average levels, dashing hopes for an end to a drought that has gripped California for the last four years.

The Kings River Water Association reported Friday that unless “significant storm events resume soon and occur into the spring,” the drought will continue into its fifth year.

An El Niño-fueled wet December and January gave many hope that the drought had ended, but February has only brought 0.33 inches in precipitation to the Fresno area. The average for the month is 2.03 inches.

It has rained only two days this month in Fresno – Feb. 17, when 0.04 inches was measured at Fresno Yosemite International Airport, and the next day, when 0.29 inches was recorded.

George Goshgarian, who farms almonds near the Kings River, said he doesn’t expect to receive any runoff water from Pine Flat Lake for the second year in a row.

“It means we completely depend on our pumps for water,” Goshgarian said. “The more pumping you do, the more the water table drops. That’s concerning. When that happens, you’ll have to build a whole new well.”

Goshgarian said that a dry February likely spells doom for the rainy season, as March is normally the much drier month.

Although the drought probably will continue, this winter has been a marked improvement.

State data indicates the current snowpack in the central Sierra Nevada is 90 percent of its normal size as of Feb. 26. The actual snow or water equivalent is 22.3 inches. This number represents about 77 percent of the April 1 average, which is typically when the final snowpack numbers are tallied.

Last year, the central San Joaquin Valley was in far worse shape. On Feb. 26, 2015, the snowpack was at just 19 percent of normal, or around 5 inches of water equivalent.

This February was the driest since 1997, but meteorologist Scott Rowe from the National Weather Service office in Hanford said it is nowhere near the record-setting arid Februarys near the end of the 19th century.

In 1885, Fresno recorded no rain at all in February. It collected only 0.02 inches in 1889 and 0.06 inches in 1896.

Looking forward, there is a 20 percent chance of rain forecast for the Fresno area Thursday. Several storm systems will pass over Northern California in the next few days; Rowe said rain in the central San Joaquin Valley is contingent on those systems dipping over the region.

March typically is the last good month for rain in Fresno. The average for that month is also 2.03 inches. Once April 1 arrives, the skies start drying up. April’s average is 0.95 inches, and May on average records just 0.43 inches.

One hope forecasters have for more precipitation is the El Niño condition that has brought warmer-than-normal ocean water offshore of California. Strong El Niño years like this one have resulted in big rain years in the past.

FRESNO RAIN THIS SEASON

9.95 inches: Season to date (Oct. 1, 2015, through Feb. 25, 2016)

7.48 inches: Normal season to date

11.5 inches: Normal for full seaso 

Source: National Weather Service

January Update

Dear Member:

It rained and rained...

January rain total of 4.42", capped by a record breaking .98" on January 31, was more than double the average 1.95" for the month.  According to the Fresno Bee, we're now at a total of 9.62" for the season, well ahead of normal and last year.  Temperatures averaged only slightly higher than normal.

Annual Membership Meeting

The Belmont Water Corporation Annual Membership Meeting will be held at 6:00 PM on March 10, 2016 at Belmont Country Club, 8253 East Belmont Ave, Fresno, California 93737.  Appetizers and a no-host bar will be provided with the meeting beginning immediately following.  Please plan on attending this important neighborhood event.  An agenda will be mailed prior to the meeting.

University of California, Davis experts evaluate water year, so far

January 2016 was much wetter than the previous Januaries during this drought. Precipitation is modestly above average, as is snowpack, and climatic conditions remain promising. The largest reservoirs are mostly fuller than a year ago, although not nearly to average conditions for this time of year. Groundwater is likely to be recharging, as it should this time of year in most places, but we still sit atop a large hole.  Read more...

Water Usage

As you can see in the chart below, water usage in January was the lowest recorded, 36% better than the target and 42% better than last year.  Click here for a larger view.

December Update

Dear Member:

Happy New Year. 

Let rain, let rain, let it rain...

December high temperatures were just slightly cooler than normal (2 degrees). Total rain for the month was 2.97" compared to an average for December of 1.71". We're nearly 2" ahead of normal rainfall through December.

El Niño

We are in the 5th year of drought and an El Niño year, as we appear to be in, only forestalls the continued dwindling supply of water in this state. There has yet to be a serious legislative proposal to for building new water storage. We'll watch as the water generously delivered by El Niño runs back into the ocean rather than saved for a non-rainy day. There have been many proposals put forward for the spending of surplus state revenues, but none for water storage. The pot we find at the end of the rainbow will most probably be dry...

Neighborhood News

We lost another long time neighbor in December as long time neighbor Kathy Mobley passed away on Christmas Day.  Services are to be held January 9.

The BWC president and good friend Kelly Strickland is moving north to Clovis with his wife, Monica, and family.  We'll miss them and wish them well.  Anyone interested in stepping up to fill Kelly's shoes on the BWC board, please call one of the board members.

Water Usage

As you can see in the chart below, water usage in December was again the lowest of the year and beat both the target and last year by an astounding 34%. This monthly reduction brought the entire year's usage to 2% better than the target and 13% better than last year.   Click here for a larger view.

While some of the reduced usage can be attributed to December rainfall, most of us have turned off our sprinklers when it rains. 

Congratulations on a job well done 

and 

thank you for your continued support.

Cost Comparison

Included in the graph below is an estimate of the year to date cost of purchasing water from the City of Henderson, Nevada, the City of Fresno, and the current charges by BWC.  Click here for larger view.  As you can see in the illustration below, we have grown accustomed to very inexpensive water.  Other water suppliers are charging more due to increased costs and regulations along with disappearing supplies.