City of Tehachapi Water SupplyYou can compare the City's numbers compared the projected numbers from last NR.
"Water The City of Tehachapi provides potable water service to the residents and businesses within the City. The City's Water Department maintains seven wells, five million gallons of water storage, 250 fire hydrants, and approximately 50 miles of water mains that supply about 3,000 metered connections. Adequate pressure to provide service as well as firefighting capability is maintained by the use of booster pumps and pressure relief/sustaining valves which produce six pressure zones.
The Water System is operated by permit from the State Water Resources Control Board. The City of Tehachapi uses groundwater pumped from the Tehachapi Basin aquifer for all potable water use. The City has about 2,000 acre-feet (AF) of native water rights from the adjudicated Tehachapi Water Basin. The City’s annual potable water usage fluctuates between about 1,800 AF per year to 2,000 AF per year.
The City receives about 200 AF of non-potable water annually for several large irrigation accounts. This water is obtained from the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District (TCCWD) under contract. TCCWD maintains a contract for imported State water from the California Aqueduct.
As the City’s water operations have neared a point of equilibrium (using about as much water as the City has a right to use), the City has sought additional sources of water to permit growth. Two primary options have been pursued thus far:
1. Construct a water recycling system to beneficially reuse City generated wastewater. This operation is subject to TCCWD approval as TCCWD is the court-appointed Water Master for this region.
2. Purchase imported water from TCCWD to be recharged into the Tehachapi Water Basin for future use by the City.
Unfortunately, TCCWD has endeavored to prevent both options from succeeding up to and including litigation against the City. Litigation is ongoing without resolution as of Summer 2023. The inability to obtain additional water supply is a major constraint against providing additional housing. To address the constraints of an inadequate water supply for residents and businesses, the City is implementing three strategies. First, the City secured funding of $150,000 and implemented a currently active capital improvement project to update approximately 57 irrigation controls to reduce water consumption within the City’s landscaped areas. Second, over the past three years, the City has successfully purchased 150-acre-feet of water and continues to pursue opportunities to purchase more water rights. Third, over the last seven years, the City has been working toward a water recycling project to improve its Wastewater Treatment Plant to supplement water availability."