The California tourist town that’s running out of water: ‘It’s a shock’

 

On many mornings, the village of Mendocino vanishes into a thick white fog that covers its seaside cliffs, redwood trees and quaint Victorian houses.

Carved into California’s northern coast, the historic hamlet’s rugged beaches, scenic hikes, charming bed-and-breakfasts and boutique galleries draw in 1.8m visitors each year.

...For the past century, misty, forested Mendocino – despite being nestled along a number of major rivers, creeks and springs – has relied on shallow wells for water. But amid a historic drought dessicating the US west, the aquifers beneath the town’s damp fog layer have rapidly declined, threatening to sink the region’s tourism industry and the residents who rely on it.

Café Beaujolais, which normally draws all its water for cooking and cleaning from two small wells on its property, has already been shelling out thousands of dollars to have water trucked in from nearby towns and cities.

Because surrounding areas are also facing shortages, the costs of getting tanker trucks full of potable water has nearly doubled over the past few months – from about $350 per 3,500-gallon load to $600, Lopez said.

“This is likely to keep getting worse,” he said. “Especially with global warming, as the earth gets hotter and dry seasons get longer.”

...There have been discussions about transporting water by barge, or via the Skunk Train, a historic railway built in 1885 to haul lumber that in recent decades has served as a tourist attraction. Robert Jason Pinoli, the train’s president and general manager, or its “Chief Skunk”, recently proposed using his railway’s diesel locomotives to pull 200,000 gallons of water at a time from the nearby town of Willits to Fort Bragg, where the water could be driven over to homes and businesses in Mendocino and nearby towns...MORE