Water News: Fire Recovery Update, Water Bill Relief, Large Collection System of the Year, and More

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BOARD OF
PUBLIC UTILITIES 

Bill Arnone, Vice Chair

Lisa Badenfort

Chris Grabill

Richard Dowd

Dan Galvin, Chair  

Mary Watts

The Board consists of seven members appointed by the City Council and meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month at 1:30 p.m. Meetings are located in the City Council Chamber at 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, unless otherwise noticed. For more information visit: srcity.org/bpu


UPCOMING 

PUBLIC MEETINGS

Board Meeting
Thursday, February 1
1:30 PM

City Council Chambers


Board Meeting
Thursday, February 15
1:30 PM
City Council Chambers


Bennett Horenstein
Director of Santa Rosa Water


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January/February 2018

Santa Rosa Water eNews

Providing up-to-date information on our water system, upcoming events, rebates, and offering useful tips.

srcity.org/water


Fire Recovery Update

Water Quality Testing

Water Quality

Since the fires, Santa Rosa Water has increased water sampling beyond that required by regulations to closely monitor the entire water system. We have sampled all neighborhoods in the City.

The post-fire water samples from one neighborhood detected elevated levels of benzene. As a result, a Do-Not-Drink and Do-Not-Boil advisory was issued for 13 homes in an isolated area of Fountaingrove on November 10, 2017 and remains in place. Read Full News Release Here.  

All other City neighborhoods, including areas impacted by the fires, show no change in water quality.  Santa Rosa Water has taken many precautions to isolate the affected portion of the water system by securing valves. This is to ensure that the contamination does not spread to other neighborhoods in the City.

Please know that our scientists and engineers are working hard to identify the source of contamination and remove it. We are also collaborating with national experts and the California Division of Drinking Water.

To remove the contamination our team is actively flushing, cleaning, inspecting, and replacing portions of the system. This includes monitoring progress by collecting, on average, 50 water samples per week and sending them to our State-certified environmental laboratory for analysis.

For more information on the water quality advisory, please visit: www.srcity.org/wqadvisory.


Watershed Protection

The City of Santa Rosa and the County of Sonoma are working together collaboratively with state and federal agencies and with local environmental nonprofit groups, to assess and reduce the risk of flooding and to prevent fire-related debris, pollutants and sediment from being carried into storm drains, creeks and the Russian River.

Immediately following the wildfires, the City of Santa Rosa CCTV’d over 216,000 ft. (40.9 mi.) of storm drain infrastructure in burned areas, where urgent storm drain issues were identified and repaired. In addition, straw wattles and gravel bags were installed at nearly 1,400 locations to protect the storm drain system and our local creeks from fire related debris.

Other watershed protection activities included: street sweeping, storm drain cleaning, erosion control efforts including hydro-mulching, and the removal of burned vehicles and debris.

The mutual goal of these efforts is to protect human health, public safety, critical infrastructure (bridges, roads, culverts, flood protection facilities), wildlife, and the natural environment including streams and waterways. 

Please be aware that creeks and streams within and downstream of burned areas have an elevated risk of flooding, mud flows, and debris flows due to increased rain runoff. Residents interested in tips on erosion control and flood prevention, please visit:  www.sonomacountyrecovers.org/rain-ready/

If you see evidence of flooding, mud and debris flows, or sinkholes in your area, call 9-1-1.


Santa Rosa Water Bill Relief

eNews Water Bill Relief

On December 7, 2017, the Board of Public Utilities approved a Billing Adjustments for Fire Protection Water Use policy. The policy allows for a billing adjustment for properties that experienced increased use due to fire related water loss and activities during the month of October 2017. For all account types, water use must be higher than prior water use, compared to the same time last year. The amount of additional usage will be billed at the City’s FY 2017-18 wholesale rate per thousand gallons for potable water ($2.60) or recycled water ($0.82). The difference between the rate billed and the wholesale rate, per thousand gallons of excess use, will be reflected on a future bill as a credit.

Applying for Water Bill Relief

To request an adjustment to your bill for additional water use due to fire protection, please visit srcity.org/waterbillrelief and fill out the form by June 1, 2018. After submitting your request, please allow 8-12 weeks for the adjustment to be made.

If you have any questions regarding the water bill relief, please send an email to revenue@srcity.org.


Water Supply

Water Supply

CURRENT WATER STATISTICS:

  • RESERVOIR LEVELS: As of January 22, 2018 reservoir storage in Lake Sonoma is 82.9% of capacity and Lake Mendocino is 89% of target water supply storage.  
  • RAINFALL: Rainfall this year to date (October 1, 2017- January 21, 2018) is 12.17 inches. Average rainfall for the same period is 16.17 inches.     

Current water supply levels can be found on the Sonoma County Water Agency's website.


Santa Rosa Water Wins Large Collection System of the Year

Local Operations

On Friday, November 17, representatives from the Santa Rosa Water’s Local Operations division accepted the award for Large Collection System of the Year at the California Water Environment Association’s (CWEA) Redwood Empire Section Annual Awards Banquet.

The CWEA awards program was established in 1929 and acknowledges outstanding achievement in more than 20 categories and honors exceptional California water environment professionals, collection systems, and treatment plants. 

The award is given in three categories: Small, Medium and Large. The level for a Large Collection System is over 500 miles of sewer main – so, with nearly 590 miles, Santa Rosa just qualified as “large” and competed with other, much larger agencies.  The City of Santa Rosa wastewater collection system now qualifies to compete at the State level.  (As an example, last year’s winner was LA Sanitation with a system of 6,700 miles of sewers and 49 pumping plants.)

As stated by Ron Marincic, Utility System Superintendent, “Every inch of our wastewater operation and organization was covered and inspected and this award brings recognition and validation to the efforts of all the Local Operations staff." He added that it’s an honor to receive this award from a widely recognized and professional organization such as CWEA. 

Congratulations to the entire Local Water Operations team!


Volunteer Opportunities

Creek Stewardship


Colgan Creek Volunteer Days

Help the community of southwest Santa Rosa cleanup and care for the restored reach of Colgan Creek.

  • Date: February 10, 2018
  • Time: 9:30 AM – Noon
  • Location: Elsie Allen High School

Clean River Alliance Creek Cleanups
Join Clean River Alliance's volunteer cleanup of Santa Rosa Creek, on the 3rd Saturday of every month.

  • Date: February 17, 2018
  • Time: 10:00 AM – Noon
  • Location: Olive Park

Flat Rock Park Volunteer Days
Help take care of the Brush Creek Restoration Area and Flat Rock Park.

  • Date: February 24, 2018
  • Time: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
  • Location: Flat Rock Park

For more information or to RSVP, please visit:
www.srcity.org/creekstewardship
 707-543-3845 • creeks@srcity.org 

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    Recovers

    SonomaCountyRecovers.org

    Official recovery information for Sonoma County fires.

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    Sandbags

    Free Sandbags

    To help prevent damage from flooding, sand is available for City residents.

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    Water FAQ's

    Water Quality FAQ's

    Let us answer your drinking water quality questions.

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