Rainwater Captured From Storm Makes Little Dent In Drought
GLENDORA (CBSLA.com) — Crews have been working around the clock to keep drainage canals and basins clear amid a Pacific storm that brought record rainfall to the Southland.
Stan Brown, a public works supervisor, said he's been keeping a close eye on one of six basins above Glendora designed to trap mud flows and debris but also serves to capture water to recharge the local groundwater supply.
"That's very important to us particularly in this drought sort of situation that we're in right now. The current figure that we have is, as of today, as a result of this storm alone, we've been able to capture about 1.34 billion gallons of water and that's probably enough for about 30,000 residents for a year," said Bob Spencer of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.
"That's wonderful. We need it so bad," said burn-area resident Jill Thomspon of Glendora, who welcomed the water and crews working overtime.
"They've been up and down the street. The dump trucks. The tractors," she said.
While the hillsides hold, crews say the recent rain isn't enough to relieve drought concerns.
"It's great amount of water for us. It's a drop in the bucket when it comes to helping us out in the drought situation. We need many more storm events, such as this one, over a number of years to even make a dent in the drought but every little bit helps," Spencer said.
In fact, a senior adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown said 150 days similar to Wednesday's rain would be required to make a difference in terms of the drought.
Meanwhile, the captured water is expected to be treated in order to be purified and won't be drinkable for a couple of years, Branson said.
