Sour water — a new normal in the East Bay?

[KamaAina]

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-drought-Sour-water-a-new-normal-6168768.php

East Bay residents first noticed a bitter taste in their tap water on Saturday.

“It’s very metallic ... almost minerally,” said Justin Lagana-Jackson, a resident of Oakland’s Laurel district, who was caught by surprise when he tried to slake his thirst from a garden hose while doing yard work on Sunday night....

It turns out the taste, and a foul odor associated with it, comes from algae in the Pardee Reservoir, which supplies most of the drinking water for East Bay Municipal Utility District customers. The good news is that it’s safe to drink, said Abby Figueroa, an EBMUD spokeswoman. The district continually tests for contaminants that derive from toxic algae, and so far it hasn’t found any, said EBMUD Director Andy Katz....

EBMUD began using the sour water last week when its operations department decided to draw from higher up in the reservoir, to preserve the colder, downstream water for salmon in the Mokelumne River. The district has a legal obligation to release enough cold water each fall so that the fish can spawn, owing to a 1998 settlement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. EBMUD pumped from other reservoirs to keep the Pardee at 89 percent of capacity, Figueroa said. But with little snowmelt dripping in, EBMUD has to save about 28,000 acre-feet — or 9.1 billion gallons — to meet its part of the agreement.

[Arugula Latte]

1. I grew up with EBMUD water, and it was delicious.

The water from the Delta, however, always tasted like pencils. Still does.

It's a shame the EBMUD water taste has changed.