EDITORIAL: With another drought, county facing new costs and fire risks

Apr. 11—What is this —a Biblical plague?

Not just the COVID-19 pandemic, which shows many signs of easing in Santa Cruz County and most of California.

No, we mean the other signs that might be construed as forerunners of an imminent apocalypse

Earthquakes. Prolonged drought. Fires.

Actually, these last three probably aren't heralds of the end of the world, but have become part of our "normal" existence.

On earthquakes, a 4.0-magnitude shaker followed quickly by a 3.3-magnitude quake, rattled the Los Angeles area last week. Then Wednesday, a 3.7-magnitude quake shook western Fresno County.

Taken by themselves, no big concern. We get "minor" quakes all the time. But we all know that as stresses build up on the many fault lines crisscrossing California, a much bigger earthquake is likely sooner than later. Hopefully, it won't hit here ­ even though the 1989 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake is more and more becoming a distant memory.

But of equal, or more immediate, concern, is the drought —as our county, and the state are experiencing yet another year of scarce rainfall, the driest rainy season in seven years.

The discussion has begun about mandatory conservation measures for Santa Cruz Water Department customers. The Santa Cruz Water Commission voted last week to recommend the City Council enact the first stage of a water contingency plan and residents should be prepared for a possible 10% water usage reduction department wide.

The Santa Cruz water agency already faces supply and infrastructure challenges, and our area remains unhealthily dependent on surface water and on a single major reservoir, at Loch Lomond.

What's also of concern in these uncertain times where many people are experiencing pandemic-related financial hardship, is that if water is rationed, then less revenue comes in to water departments, which often leads to higher rates.

That would not be good news to people struggling to pay their bills. The Sentinel reported Friday almost 12,000 Santa Cruz County PG&E customers are past due on paying their utility bills due to the pandemic. The deficit has reached more than $5 million, according to PG&E. A moratorium on shutting off utilities due to pandemic-related financial issues was put in place in March 2020 but is due to expire June 30.

And the lack of rain means fire season is already upon us, and for Santa Cruz Mountains' residents, that means hyper vigilance about wildfires.

Earlier this month, Cal Fire crews responded to a smallish wildland fire that ignited in the CZU Lightning Complex burn scar area.

Last August's CZU Lightning Complex fire was the largest blaze in Santa Cruz County history, and cost more than $68 million to fight.

Cal Fire officials have since said they did not have enough firefighters to adequately fight the CZU Complex fire —and that high fire danger remains across this county, dangers that are exacerbated by this year's dry conditions.

So we're cautiously optimistic that state agencies are more prepared this season in case, or when, more devastating fires break out.

On Thursday Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration announced a legislative deal to spend an extra $536 million on immediate fire prevention measures.

The additional funding is about half the governor's proposed $1 billion for wildfire response —and includes $280 million for projects to improve forest health and $30 million to make communities and homes more fire-resistant. About $200 million will go to cut fuel breaks in state forests, although the state only controls about 3% of California's 33 million forested acres. Most of our forests are under the control of the federal government, which, when former President Donald Trump was in office, was sharply critical of the state's ability to manage forests for potential wildfires.

Let's hope we've turned a corner in terms of cooperation, because the months ahead are going to be challenging and we simply can't be over prepared.

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