A new Ventura County Grand Jury reports says some of the county’s water providers aren’t adequately prepared to deal with the impacts of wildfires.
The report says one of the top issues is many of the 15 water suppliers don’t have adequate backup power to deal with disruptions due to the loss of utility power, or fire damage. It calls on them to have on-site emergency power backup at critical infrastructure.
It says there is an inadequate warning system for the providers of impending wildfire danger. And, it suggests that the water suppliers should have formal written policies on how to deal with outages.
The report notes that water shortages were a problem during the 2017 Thomas Fire, and 2018 Woolsey Fire. But, some of those issues were linked to the huge demand for water by fire trucks during the massive blazes.
