Healdsburg, California, residents can expect their water and
sewer bills to go up by 21 percent beginning in August after a
rate hike was approved this week by the Healdsburg City
Council. According to the city’s Water and Wastewater Cost of
Service and Rate Design Study, this could amount to as much as
$34 per month for some residents in the Northern California
community. … The city said the revenue will help improve and
maintain its water system, including fixing bursting pipes.
Installing drought-tolerant landscaping or using recycled water
for irrigation could become substitutes for grey water systems
under a proposal from the Marin Municipal Water District. The
district’s communications and water efficiency committee has
endorsed a proposal that will overhaul the grey water ordinance
that was adopted in 2016. Grey water is wastewater from
bathtubs, showers, bathroom sinks and clothes washers. The
existing ordinance states that applicants seeking new water
service, and projects requesting expanded water service for
large residential or commercial remodels, must install a grey
water recycling system for landscape irrigation. However, the
district allowed customers to self-certify whether a grey water
system was feasible, resulting in many owners of eligible sites
exempting their properties, staff said.
Sebastopol residents could pay an average of $43 more per month
for water and sewer services beginning July 1. The proposed
increase, to be discussed by city leaders on Tuesday and be
voted on by the Sebastopol City Council in June, is meant to
cover the cost of much needed maintenance and replacements on
the city’s aging system. The city has dipped into reserves for
the past five years, depleting its “rainy day” account.
According to city documents, the city expects its water fund to
have just $13,000-plus on the books at the end of the 2023-24
fiscal year, while its wastewater fund will be in the hole by
more than $1 million. … To backfill the loss, the city plans
to raise water rates by 50%. It could then follow one of two
recommended plans: raise rates by 16% in year two, then two
percent for the next three years. Or, in the second plan, the
city could raise rates by 11% in the second year, then 9% for
the next three years.
Those stunning warnings in 2021 that the Marin Municipal Water
District was within months of running out of water led voters
to demand change. In the 2022 election, that frustration was
evident as voters elected three new directors. The historic
drought has taken a toll on the district’s chain of reservoirs,
the capacity of which it relies to meet the water needs of the
communities MMWD serves. The Lake Sonoma reservoir, which MMWD
relies on to import about 25% of its supply, was also depleted
by the drought and its releases restricted. The drought was a
huge test of the district’s long held policy of maintaining its
supply through conservation. The prolonged drought proved that
conservation, while vitally necessary, wasn’t enough — and the
district was caught in a crisis.
After more than an hour of discussion, which included the
addition of some new conditions of approval by staff as well as
public comments both in opposition and support, the California
Coastal Commission unanimously approved the project. In
granting the Harbor District’s permit application, the
commission cleared away one of the last remaining
administrative hurdles for Nordic Aquafarms’ proposed
fish-production factory on the Samoa Peninsula. The coastal
development permit will allow the Harbor District to upgrade
its seawater intake infrastructure in Humboldt Bay, install new
underground water pipelines along the bay, perform a variety of
environmental mitigation activities and, eventually, withdraw
up to 11.8 million gallons of water per day for tenants in the
future National Marine Research and Innovation Park.
The Marin Municipal Water District is embarking on a yearlong
study to examine the impact of frequent, severe storms on the
utility’s seven dams. The district board authorized spending up
to $1.06 million to evaluate the capacity of the dam spillways,
and to use climate change projections to assess potential
hazards. The study is a response to a critical Marin County
Civil Grand Jury report published last summer. The watchdog
panel said dam safety plans for the Marin Municipal Water
District and the North Marin Water District are failing to
account for more regular “atmospheric river” storms brought on
by climate change. The grand jury recommended, among other
actions, that the water districts update their dam hazard
mitigation plans with the latest science on climate change
effects on storms.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is warning
people to keep their pets away from Silverwood Lake in San
Bernardino after water officials identified toxic algae in the
water. Last week, the DWR announced that water officials have
issued a “caution algal bloom advisory” for Silverwood Lake
after blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, was found
at the lake. Not all algae is toxic, but it’s impossible to
tell just by looking at it. Exposure to toxic
cyanobacteria can cause unpleasant symptoms, such as eye, nose,
mouth or throat irritation, headache, allergic skin rash, mouth
ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea, and cold- and flu-like symptoms,
according to a DWR website. Pets and children are especially
susceptible, prompting the DWR to urge people to be aware of
the conditions.
The Marin Municipal Water District is bolstering its strategy
on conservation with policy updates and incentive programs
designed to reduce water use by hundreds of millions of gallons
annually. The draft “2024 Water Efficiency Master Plan” is a
playbook that outlines how water is used today in the county,
and how the district can help its 191,000 customers in central
and southern Marin cut back. The plan aims to reduce water use
districtwide by more than 1,000 acre-feet a year starting in
2025, with even greater incremental reduction targets beyond
that. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons of water. District
staffers presented the draft plan to the board at a special
meeting on Wednesday.
For the past 101 years, the cows on [the Mulas Dairy
farm] near San Pablo Bay were milked twice a day. In
recent years, that meant you’d hear the loud hum of vacuum
pumps running from midnight to 7 a.m. and again from noon to 7
p.m. … [Farm president Mike] Mulas was standing near a
drainage ditch on the east side of his 800-acre Schellville
property. The shallow stormwater trench runs through part of
the farm and empties into a field, not far from a network of
creeks that flow into San Pablo Bay. It was a major point of
contention in a lawsuit filed over alleged water quality
violations in early 2023. … For the North Bay’s
struggling dairy industry, it could also be read as another
signpost of the new era. In an age where some environmental
groups take to the courts in higher numbers, going after farms
they allege are polluting surrounding watersheds, many
struggling family farms simply can’t put up a fight anymore.
After screening proposals to expand water storage capacity, the
Marin Municipal Water District has narrowed its options. But
expansion of the Soulajule reservoir — the district’s star
prospect — is drawing mounting opposition from neighboring
ranchers who fear that their multigenerational homes and
ranches will be engulfed by the new footprint created by the
larger dam.
The Del Norte City Council approved long-awaited Renovations on
the Wastewater Treat Plant (WWTP). The WWTP is operated via
contract with Jacobs Engineering. Jacobs Staff were on hand in
the audience and via Zoom to address technical questions by
councilors and the Public. The Resolution for amending the
agreement with the California State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) amends the financial arrangements between the
City and the SWRCB. A second Resolution approved amending the
City budget for fiscal year 2023-24.