San Diego County and most of Southern California were already dealing with water shortages before the fires started. Now water agencies are working to keep water supplies steady as some pumps have been damaged the past few days. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has this update.
John Liarakos with the San Diego County Water Authority says the agency is working to maintain water supplies during the fires.
Liarakos : The use of water is still a critical thing, even more so because we need to keep those water supplies available for emergency uses and for fighting the fires.
He says there have been some problems in the north county.
Liarakos : Some of our agencies had pump stations that were damaged and all and we've been working with them to correct those situations and trying to keep the water available and deliveries on target and so far we've pretty well managed that.
Liarakos says crews are now replacing equipment to restore water service in Ramona. He's not certain whether the fires caused the problem. Liarakos and his family were briefly evacuated from their Poway home, where's there's plenty of ash to clean up.
Liarakos : My wife's got my oldest son right now using a shop vac to vacuum up the ashes and stuff 'cause I told her 'don't you dare turn that hose on.' We just need to preserve the water supply as much as possible.
He says it's even more critical now than ever for people not threatened by fire to conserve water. Officials also want us to avoid washing ash into storm drains.
Ed Joyce, KPBS News.
