Skies are dry and fire risk is high

Drought affects our services in more ways than just the water supply. Dry periods increase the threat of fire in our watersheds surrounding and protecting our reservoirs. Monterey pine trees on our watershed lands in the East Bay and the Sierra foothills are dying, leading EBMUD to escalate our efforts to remove dry vegetation that can contribute to fuel load during a fire.

EBMUD has been reducing fuel and mitigating wildfire for over 40 years. We partner with local and state agencies, cities, and fire districts to coordinate efforts and share resources. Year round we remove vegetation by hand, mow, remove trees, conduct prescribed burns, release animals to graze on dry vegetation and create fuel breaks. We limit this work seasonally to avoid areas and times when birds nest, including our local eagle population. We’re asking visitors to care for these lands as we do and never use fire on the watershed.

Illegal trash dumping on the protected watershed has been on the rise. EBMUD is working with regional law enforcement to curb the problem, and we’ve redirected contracts for tree-trimming to clean up instead. Not only is trash removal expensive, but dumping can harm the watershed and pollute our water supply. If you see illegal dumping, please contact local law enforcement or report it via our partner, StopWaste.

We’re prepared for Public Safety Power Shutoffs.

Generators are in place at critical pumping plants to ensure that an electrical power outage won’t adversely affect water operations. If a power shutoff is called near you, please conserve water during the outage. When a power shutoff is in effect, go to ebmud.com to see if your address is affected.