Cambria assessment warns of tight supplies; staff recommends monitoring and readiness to declare Stage 2

The Cambria Community Services District on June 12 accepted a technical water‑supply assessment that recommends close monitoring and preparation for a possible Stage 2 water‑shortage declaration this summer.

Program Manager Tristan Reaper told the board the assessment models FY2025–26 against a conservative supply year (calendar 2022) and focuses on stream‑flow recharge of the Sansimeon groundwater system. Reaper said timing of precipitation this year helped retain stream flow longer than in 2022, but the district nonetheless sits “right between a stage one and stage two,” and staff will monitor monthly metrics and recommend a stage change if conditions warrant.

Reaper offered the board a short trigger framework and said the recommendation was operational: “our recommendation is that we closely monitor and then if we need to move to a stage two … we would do so at that time.” Board members pressed staff on whether to start public outreach earlier; several directors asked staff to consider advancing messaging to hotels and second‑home owners to increase voluntary conservation.

The assessment projects roughly a 1% shortfall this year under unconstrained demand assumptions; staff told directors that if a low‑recharge water year materializes, operation of the Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) under the district’s emergency use permit would be required to support late‑season pumping and that brine‑management logistics would be part of that operational plan.

Next steps: staff will report monthly to the board and utilities committee, update demand/supply metrics as new data arrives, and bring any formal Stage 2 recommendation back to the board. The district’s presentation and the board’s discussion closed with no immediate vote on a stage declaration.