 So we're going to be starting a few minutes late because a couple of our board members are on their way over from City Hall So hang in there. All right. I think everybody is here. That's going to be here So I'll call the meeting of the Board of Public Utilities for the city Santa Rosa to order if we could have a roll call, please Chairman Galvin here vice chair count board member Arnone board member bad and Fort board member Dowd Board member Grable here board member Watts here Any statements of abstention by board members? Hearing none we'll move to our study session on the emergency groundwater program update deputy director Burke afternoon Good afternoon Chairman Galvin and members of the board We are here today to give a study session background Overview on the city's emergency groundwater program We know it's been a little while since we've really been up in front of the board with this program and providing updates and also a little bit of time since we were Last really in front of the board getting specific direction on the program so we thought it would be a good time to come back and Give an update give some background for some of those members that are a little bit newer as well as Be here to just answer any questions And that that the board may have in any direction you want to give us related to the emergency groundwater program so With that I did want to let the board know that we do have a team of folks that have really been working on this program We have a number of folks from the water department including operations staff as well as Water supply planning staff and then we have a number of folks from the capital projects team that are also helping us with implementation of this program We bring in various other departments at times when we need assistance related to Planning and economic development or we have questions related to sequel compliance, and then we also have a very experienced consultant team sitting to my Right left I always do that wrong right is Jerry Nakano who's with West Coast associates And he's the project manager for that particular this particular project, and then we also have some Other team members that are also in the audience, so it's a really important program We recognize that we know this has been a priority of the board And we've really been doing a lot of work to get this program implemented and we're going to go through today sort of Some background some background on the master plan and the direction we have from you But then also talk a little bit of where we are with implementation and some of the challenges that we continue to Face as we're implementing this program And then we'll give you an update on the current status So just for some of the newer board members I thought it would be helpful just to remind sort of some of the background in history Related to groundwater use in the city of Santa Rosa So way back in the day or prior to 1959 We used to really be solely reliant on groundwater for the city's water supply About that time the water agency started developing original water supply Eventually the city signed on to take water from the Sonoma County water agency's regional water supply system So that really shifted our water supply We really then were reliant on the Sonoma County water agency and we really pretty much are to this day on average I would say that the Sonoma County water agency supply is approximately 95 percent of our water supply in July of 2005 the city had Two really good production wells That we used to rely on prior to the 60s on farmers Lane Those wells had been converted to an emergency standby status And so we had them available as emergency wells and in July of 2005 we worked with The division of drinking water as well as doing studies and and doing our sequel documents to convert those wells over to production wells we started operating those wells in 2007 and We've been operating them every year since we typically operate them in the summer months to meet meet peak demand and Since we started operating them on average. We provide about 1100 acre feet per year From those wells into our system to give you some context, you know On average we're somewhere in the neighborhood of maybe 16 to 17 to 18,000 acre feet It's really been all over the board these last few years. So but that's probably closely. We're more in that 17,000 acre feet range We currently as I mentioned have two wells that are production wells and those are the wells that are located on farmers Lane They are deep wells. They're anywhere from around 800 plus feet deep and they're really good production wells that Return to what we call artesian conditions every year. So they're they're great wells fantastic Reliable supply that we're really grateful that we have in addition to those two production wells We also have a couple emergency standby wells They're Carly and Peter Springs well and they do provide some landscape irrigation for the parks and the school in that area But they are also permitted as emergency standby. Well, so we operate those wells at the city We have a minor irrigation well also on farmers Lane That's really just a tiny little thing that provides irrigation and then we have another Emergency standby well, which is leet well, but that one is currently out of service And that's one of the things as part of this program that we're working on getting that back Into service at some point and then we also have two inactive wells One of which is the freeway well and we've had some discussions about this over the years with the board The freeway well used to be a very good producer for the city Unfortunately due to some contamination We actually had to stop pumping that well and eventually had to physically disconnect it from the system So it's still there. It's completely disconnected from our system It isn't active and we continue to look at options for what could we do to try and recover that asset if possible? unfortunately as Recently as a couple years ago We did just kind of take a look again and did a couple samples to see if there's still contamination and we did find that there was so It's chlorinated solvents contamination And so we're continuing to look at that and know that that's something we want to try and do something with but it's a very complex Complicated problem. We've had many discussions and meetings with the regional board as well as a vision of drinking water To see if there's easy solutions and they really aren't but it's something that we continue to pursue In terms of policy background and sort of how did we get here? Back in the late 90s The city had identified the need to develop some additional emergency groundwater supply And that time we had identified that we needed approximately 8.7 million gallons per day of emergency groundwater supply and We started to look at various options for how we could Successfully get that amount of groundwater During that time there were also some Negotiations that were occurring with the Sonoma County water agency in terms of our restructured agreement and Other discussions related to development and so in September of 2003 The council directed water staff to work with the board to evaluate the role that local supply would have in meeting our water supply needs and The board actually adopted a resolution it's resolution number 776 that gave direction to pursue development of water sources to make sure we had a reliable water supply through the Building horizon of the general plan at that time. It was the 2020 general plan and to look at local groundwater as well as recycled water as well as possibly additional supplies from the Sonoma County water agency and Also continue to implement our water use efficiency program And then to really look at those sources based on supply reliability cost timing and environmental impact So that was a direction. We received we continued to look at implementing the program and In addition to that in 2006 the restructured agreement was approved and signed by all parties and in particular the restructured agreement does have some specific Language in there related to local supply and recycled water really wanting to encourage the water contractors to use their best efforts to make sure that we had a robust supply that was diversified and so asking the contractors to develop local supply projects as well as really encouraging that we have local supply capacity available to supplement the water agency system and We think that actually Coincides very nicely with the emergency groundwater program because that's you know from that perspective Trying to meet that as well as the emergency groundwater program really would help us meet the needs of our community in the event of an emergency so we continue to look at implementing the program and then we really started to Look at a couple different things. We had a USGS study that started for the Santa Rosa Plain groundwater basin in 2005 we had the Desire to start looking at a Voluntary what's called AB 3030 groundwater management plan for the Santa Rosa Plain Sub basin Those efforts were kind of going along and at the same time the city was saying, you know We really think it would be important for us to develop a master plan That really provides the roadmap and strategic direction from the board on how we should look at groundwater to serve the needs of the city so in 2011 the board did authorize us to go out for an RFP to look at developing a groundwater master plan and Prove the development later that year and then we worked very closely with the board You can see there is a number of meetings both at the board level and at subcommittee levels to Work on getting the direction getting the right information into the master plan to make sure we were really creating that that roadmap in 2013 we finally pretty much wrapped up the development of the master plan and We decided to have that adopted and in order to do so we determined that we needed a mitigated neg Deck to comply with sequel So we also developed a minute a mitigated neg deck that covers the entire urban growth boundary of the city to allow us to look at any Potential area any potential parcel within the city as long as it meets the requirements in that document We have a checklist any specific studies are needed then we can meet sequel compliance. So We brought all that to the board in September of 2013 and the master plan was adopted as well as the mitigated neg deck And just in terms of the objective of the master plan it really is the strategic roadmap and direction from the board on how we should use our groundwater resources for the city and We're looking not only at current needs, but future needs of the city We're looking at expanding our understanding of the basin itself. We are also really Targeted focusing on emergency water supply We had a lot of discussions back with the board in 2012 and 2013 about should we look at production or should we look at emergency supply? And we made a determination at that time that we were really focusing on emergency supply because the USGS study was not complete Some of you may remember we had this five-year goal for the USGS study and it wound up taking ten years So we didn't have that information complete yet And we were in the middle of developing that groundwater management plan at the time So we really felt that our focus should be on emergency supply and that when we updated the master plan Which was recommended to be every five years Which were kind of coming up on that date We would you know look again at that point to see does it make sense for us to really start looking at production? So I think that's something that is probably going to be discussions in the future So with that that was sort of the direction we had from the board and what's incorporated into the master plan and what gives us our Marching orders for this program and with that I'm going to turn it over to Jerry and he's going to talk through some of the information on the methodology and the analysis and how we came up with Operating our system and the amount of emergency supply that we felt we need Great, thank you Jennifer Chairman Galvin members of board good afternoon I wanted to start with just kind of an overview of the city's existing water system just as a base The the city's water system is very integrated and the city operation staff does a great job with with working on it but Essentially as Jennifer said 95% of your annual supply comes from the agency and it's a little hard to see here, but as shown the The these red lines are the major Agency aqueduct lines that provide the 95% of your supply and from those lines over 40 Valves or turnouts provide water to the city system through then which the city's existing systems take it to pump stations and Then those pump stations pump it up into the higher topographic areas, so it's a very integrated complicated system But again 95% of your supplies provided by the agency With the exception of during the summer months the two farmers laying wells do provide Additional water during the summer months to help meet the high-demand peaks that occur over the summer and you do have two other active Emergency wells for a total of four And Jennifer spoke about those and those are the Carly and the Peter Springs well with the fifth well currently being out of service So basically you have four emergency wells at this time and there are a number of reservoirs That are within the system both owned and operated by the city as well as the agency So there is some emergency supply in above-ground storage But the intent was to supplement that with groundwater storage to be able to meet the demands and we'll talk about that here in a second Working very closely with the BPU ad hoc committee we had to develop criteria with which to Analyze how much emergency groundwater supply was going to be needed and so Again some of the planning assumptions that were made are listed here such as what are we defining as the emergency scenario and The bookends that were determined were a partial loss from the agency as well as total loss from from the agency supply And then the subsequent question is well, how long and so again the bookends were a two-day outage and up to a 14-day outage because the definition of an emergency condition and the emergency well can only Operate up to a total of 15 days within a calendar year. So again These are the kind of the bookends and the parameters We had to determine, you know, what is the existing status when this emergency situation occurs? and so The tanks were assumed to be at a volume of half full we assume that the the earthquake in this Instance that would take out essentially the Sonoma County aqueduct line Would still allow our city pump stations to be intact as well as most of our transmission mains and then Probably the the the biggest assumption here was that the new emergency wells would provide up to 700 gallons per minute and and that was basically a planning level assumption At the time to which was equivalent to about a 1 million gallons per day And we'll talk about what that number currently looks like based on all the data that we have and then we were looking at the demand conditions When this would occur and and while we did look at how much emergency supply we need today to meet our existing customers We also the other bookend We needed to look at is at build out in addition to how much do we need? But again, the focus was really on dealing with the customers in the city system today and making sure that they were taken care of and and finally the assumption with during a critical emergency You know things like outside watering would be cut out and basically this is bare-bone and minimum health and safety Requirements again just so that we are not overly sizing the system But just basically making sure that we deal with and and provide for the needs of our existing customers And then the thought was from a level of service City-wide the intent was to try and provide Emergency supply across the board to all of the areas of the city knowing that that may not be possible because of certain outages But from from a planning purpose that was that was the goal that we were looking for Then and I'll show you in a second working very closely with city operation staff It it we developed a plan that if we could get water to key master Pump stations these pump stations located at key locations throughout the city could then pump that water to the other higher zones So there was this kind of a reverse domino effect if we can get these the water to these key locations then we could serve many of the city's areas and These are the the the seven areas of the city that were identified as key and really in our mind We're talking about six even though there's seven here and that's because there are two Oakmont zones here that we are basically are right next to each other and and If we can get water into the basic Oakmont zone They have pump stations to be able to go to the Oakmont hillside area. So we're really talking about Six super zones or six master zones that that we're looking to try and get water to This is a graphic that kind of just color codes and shows you the locations within the city of where these six master zones are Again, you can you can see central city and and their areas in Oakmont as well as rink and valley So on Looking at Determining how much emergency supply had to be brought to the table. So Again, the emergency wells is only one component of meeting the emergency demands You have existing Tanks a storage tanks in these areas those tanks have been designed to provide some level of volume of water during an emergency So that is a deduct of what you need You have four existing wells that provide supply for emergencies, which is a deduct So again, we went through a methodology and calculation In each one of these master zones to determine how much water how much groundwater we needed to determine and bring to to To the table as far as meeting the future needs and this table is a presentation summary of The number of anticipated new wells Based on the assumption that new emergency wells would have a capacity of seven hundred gallons per minute and again the book ends from the demand standpoint of a two-day outage versus a 14-day outage as Well as the existing demands to meet your existing customers today versus what we need to do at build-up So again, lots of numbers, but the focus of the first piece of the emergency Groundwater program was to try and meet the existing city Customer demands for a 14-day outage here and you can kind of see that Five to six wells are anticipated most of those in what we call the central city area That's basically the flat areas of the city and Based on 700 and then looking at that same data from a gallon per minute standpoint So assuming that the 700 gallon per minute per well For the calculations of the previous table were not correct than just looking at the total Flow that is required. This this is a table. So these two tables are are very much related Kind of as Jennifer talked about so BPU Your board approved a master services agreement with West yo's to be able to move forward with implementation of this program and based on the preliminary data the first project work order was the Moving forward with the installation of the first emergency well and based on all the hydraulics and the geology that site was identified to be at the Montgomery High School site and and working with and through discussions with school representatives Basically the the location on that property was in the far northeastern corner Behind the baseball field way up almost next to the creek that that area was identified behind the backstop we looked at trying to do some preliminary layouts and Came up with some concepts and discussions with the school board were were initiated and and unfortunately Those discussions have been now stalled and so That that particular site and that particular well right now are on hold We then in parallel to that Conducted for what we call test well siting studies and these were studies to identify and prioritize in these other areas that were considered High priority areas to locate emergency wells the Oakmont area Southwest and southeast areas of the city as well as the rink and valley area and We we used a very That's okay. Well, we'll get it. We'll get them all here just in the interest of time We instituted a very rigorous analysis to try and come up with a Prioritized listing in each one of these four areas of available well sites These criteria were such, you know, we wanted to be away from Contaminated sites like that, you know, there are leaking gas station tanks And we wanted to be outside of those areas We needed to be close to water transmission mains. So when we got water we could connect in without a lot of infrastructure We have to be a minimum distance from sewer lines and so on and so on so there's a whole whole Criteria to actually come up with a list of of these particular sites and probably the most important is We need to be over an area where we think the geology would support a High-production well is just so we have to go to where the water is Criteria so based on all of that we and then looking at all of these four areas We then developed a master list a master prioritized list of 20-some odd potential wealth sites and based on this master list and working with the City staff the program management staff here we identified the first three to four sites to then look to acquire the sites negotiate with the Property owners for site access and move those programs forward with actually Constructing test wells at these sites and we'll we'll speak to where we are with with some of those This is a graphic that just gives you an idea of where some of these sites are Some of the preliminary findings that as we were looking at Sighting and prioritizing well sites throughout these four areas these We looked at a lot of there is a lot of data There are a lot of domestic wells that we had looked at that are in and around the city Especially in some of these areas and so there was some data that we we were looking at these are mainly well drillers logs And so some of the initial findings are that the actual groundwater Resources beneath the city are not as robust as we had even envisioned The the data that we had originally looked at which was the farmers Lane wells Those two wells put out a thousand gpm and 1200 gallons per minute. Those are very prolific wells and aquifers the other data point we had was The freeway well that put the use to put out 800 gallons per minute until it was Impacted by others not the city, but but that was contaminated by the doing of other responsible parties, but the city Was impacted because they had to shut that well down So those two wells and the production from those wells in those particular areas Are the exception looking at all of these other areas? We have drilled the nine other test-hole sites looked at a number of other data points more along the lines of The yield that can be expected is much lower than that are in the 300 450 gallon per minute range and that is still a good. Well because Most of the domestic wells are at 50 gallons per minute or less. So again on a relative basis You know 300 400 gallons per minute is still a good. Well, but the impact that that has to the program is As we kind of relook the number of emergency wells that we had envisioned Of the 10 to 11 would now double and now we might be at something more like 20 but at the same time that we're looking at this staff is continuing to Evaluate whether it's financially feasible to move to doubling the number of emergency wells that we need to have here and again We will be looking at that as well as other options such as Maybe interties with some of our neighbors or other ways to reduce the need to replace You know this emergency groundwater only through the use of wells. So again, it's it's somewhat flexible and a little bit more diverse program here This is just a graphic of kind of showing you The total amount of groundwater needed by the different components the emergency that's already in the storage The emergency groundwater that you already have and then basically the net that is still needed Both today and in the future I wanted to spend some time a little bit talking about some of the challenges as we have been working on this project here over The last several years and I think the most difficulty that we have had is with property acquisition and Negotiating access to some of these sites excuse me For these new test well sites and quite frankly if you think about it Santa Rosa this city is is pretty well urbanized the only areas that have large enough areas to be able to Facilitate the installation of a a well pump house instrumentation those kinds of things are probably in areas that are either in parks in some of these school turf areas or play areas and or Private lots that don't have Any structures on them or something so again the the number of locations are rather limited And then with the overlay of those locations have to be geologically over the the aquifer that we're targeting The layers of identified sites start to drop out. There's not a lot of them So the ones we identify it's important to try and pursue those with I'll do vigor to try and make sure that these Can in fact be our best shot at developing new wells But in addition to that and because we realize that we can't just Install new wells the program team looked at other ways to try and again diversify and develop supplies to help Mitigate the need for for the emergency wells And so in addition to pursuing new well sites one of the concepts was to convert the existing test wells and and again We have installed nine of those test wells About half of those test wells produce in the order of 300 to 400 plus gallons per minute. So those are in a range of Being viable to trans Con to convert into emergency test wells again They're not the 700 but 300 400 gallons per minute in an emergency is real wet water It helps our citizens and so we are moving forward with that to again reduce the amount of water And you already have an investment in those wells and so to convert those wells and bring those online as emergencies apply Well, this is again part of our Our concept here as well as we don't want to lose any of our existing emergency capacity at either the two farmers Lane wells or Carly or the Peter Springs well, so we need to make sure that Those wells continue to operate are continue to be maintained and continue to be available on an emergency basis so that if and when what they're needed they can be turned on and would Roll into the system One of the items that's not on here for your consideration is also some of the budget issues here and While your board has Authorized a certain line item budget for this But based on the program that we have laid out here and and there's probably about ten different projects that The project team has been working on Based on the available annual budgets those projects are earmarked to be able to Move forward here within the next four or five or six years. So so through physical year about 21 The budgets have all been basically spent so if if this project were to want to be Accelerated then issues related budget would have to be discussed here, but because we We've identified enough projects to be able to move forward with what you've identified here Um These are these are showing the nine test well locations They're spread around the city and again So as we convert these these wells into emergency supplies These are located throughout the city so that different portions of the city can in fact have water during an emergencies condition This is just a table that that shows you The the size of these wells and the anticipated Flows as they were tested at the time so that again you can see 300 400 450 gallons per minute are Anticipated yields from these wells if they if and when they are converted Just a listing of of those top five wells The place to play well is currently in the process of being converted plants and specifications are already At about the draft hundred percent stage We are working on the madrone well now and these other wells are to be to be moved on next And Jennifer Thanks, Jerry so The board may recall that Sorry, there's no date there, but November 5th of 2015 we actually had brought this information Sort of back to the board we had talked and create and Reinstated Chairman Galvin and reinstated the BPU ad hoc committee for groundwater We had a lot of discussions about this sort of the findings that Jerry just talked about about the redirection about really looking at focusing at on test borings and We're really thinking at that time, you know if we could Really pursue the test borings as Jerry mentioned that is wet water that we know we'd have and so we already know what It's like underground There are many times when we were putting test borings in based on our best information and best knowledge and As you might have seen from the previous slide with the table We thought it would be a great location and we got really no production. So At least we know that there's wet water there. We can use it. We can convert it There would potentially be a little bit less of a cost By converting what was already an existing hole in the ground to an emergency groundwater well And then we also talked about continuing to pursue additional property acquisition to continue to pursue additional test borings and potential wells and to continue to pursue potential partnerships and looking at those options and so The BPU ad hoc subcommittee did give us direction to pursue that We came back to the board and gave an update on that and so that's really the direction We've been going in the last year and a half or so now And so Sorry And so these are the current projects that really we're moving forward right now with Making sure that we're protecting our current Emergency groundwater supplies that we do have in hand making sure that they will be reliable for many years to come What we're pursuing for converting test moorings over to emergency groundwater wells and Then what we're looking at for putting in additional test moorings to potentially site Additional emergency well, so I'm going to talk a little bit about each of those Sorry So in terms of Protecting the existing facilities the board has seen in particular the farmers lane well upgrades and treatment plant project before them A couple of months. I think earlier this year But really we are looking at making sure that we're continuing to be able to use those wells at the capacity We were hoping for we do know that we need to basically upsize the pumps We need to get some additional Electrical out there and then we need to do some upgrades to the treatment facility so that we can really make sure We can continue to rely on those wells to produce approximately 2,500 gallons per minute right now As the wells are used throughout the summer that production capacity does go down And so we're looking at a number of upgrades that will help us keep that throughout the whole pumping season We are looking at really focusing on making the upgrades and Repairs that are needed for Carly and Peter spring in the next fiscal year And one thing I do want to say is you know We kind of plan this out and and we show you a five-year CIP But we we recognize that the board only adopts year one and so this is sort of the roadmap We have right now, but we will continue to work evaluate reevaluate that budget and continue to work with the board So if this is you know sort of the planning purposes where we think we're going but those are always decisions we revisit and Then in terms of leet well really looking to bring that back online We need to do an analysis first and evaluate what that's going to take And so we're looking again at trying to do that in fiscal year 18 19 I think I'm used to a laptop sorry And then in terms of the conversions of test foreings we are Focusing on to right now With a place to play being the first one We are just about complete with design and we have been working really closely with the Wrecking parks department Because this is at a park. We have to do a master plan amendment So we've been working with them on that that's gone to the board of community services already And then the next step is that it would have to go to city council and be approved And if it's approved, then we can go ahead and get that project out to construction So we're doing sort of the design and the master plan Amendment in parallel the board of community services did recommend the amendment to the master plan to include this emergency well And then we are also looking at Madrone school And so we had good conversations with the school with the superintendents and the folks at the school board They were supportive however, there was misunderstanding of sort of what they were doing in terms of a project for building a track at the school and Where the easement was laid out and so after they had put it out Already for notice and had their initial board hearing. They realized that actually they couldn't grant the the size of the easement that we were looking at so We've regrouped with them We're continuing to talk and have discussions and we're working directly as well with their designer this time not just with the staff and we think we've found a smaller easement that will work and a footprint that we can we can use That will allow us to really use that existing test boring because we're like I said We'd really like to use the holes that we already have in the ground and so converting that as opposed to putting a new one in close by So we think that's still optimistic and we're continuing to work closely with them And then in terms of the oakmont treatment in terms of new sites We were really looking at the potential for a well at the oakmont treatment plant That site is pretty encumbered and there's a lot of constraints and so The initial analysis is showing that we probably won't be able to put a Emergency well in there with the constraints of everything that's on the property including Setbacks from the creek and setbacks from the sewer etc. We're taking one last look just to make sure but it's it's It may be that we aren't able to pursue that site after all But we're really doing our due diligence there And then we are also working closely on putting a new test boring a potential emergency Well at the spears road location that the board authorized purchasing late last year We did send out initial communications to the residents and there were some concerns that came up And so we did hold an initial community meeting with the residents in May And they continue to have some concerns and have expressed those to the council in particular They just want to understand if there will be any potential effects to their wells They want to understand how the streets going to be affected. They want to understand how the project will blend in with the neighborhood So they've raised a number of concerns So we've planned a second community meeting that we're going to have next Wednesday, June the 21st And really try and have more discussion with them and see if we can Be able to answer questions that they have and continue to move that site forward so and related to that One of the things that we wanted to show the board and I'm actually going to have Jerry just talk about this a little more in depth So it really is the cross-section of what we're looking at Where we're trying to target in terms of the groundwater aquifer We are not looking at a shallow well We are not looking to have any kind of impact or effect to the wells that those in the community have I believe our understanding from their information is their wells range anywhere from 25 to maybe 100 and 75 or 200 feet what we're looking at as a well that really would be anywhere from 600 feet deep on And we're really targeting a specific part of the aquifer that we really don't think Would have an impact to their ability to continue to use their wells Plus we're really looking at it as an emergency supply So I was going to have Jerry just walk you through a little bit of both of the cross-section and the diagram Great. Thank you Jennifer So so this cross-section We from a technical basis we we we are concerned with the and understand the the the need to minimize or the potential for impact to the existing users so This conceptual cross-section was developed based on all the available real data at the Spears Road site that We have from existing domestic wells in and around the area and you can see that There are in the vertical direction through three three what we'll call different aquifers most of the domestic wells in and around the area are less than 200 feet deep in the 190 feet or less and Those wells are tapping what we call the the younger alluvial materials And these are this it's not kind of the sands and gravels that are most recent beneath that is some older materials that again also yield water but Most of the domestic wells don't go to that depth and the target of our Emergency test well is really in the layer beneath that which is the Sonoma Volcanics and the Sonoma Volcanics are the formations that the Farmers Lane wells have tapped into and again We don't have wells this deep in that area, which is part of why this is an exploratory test hole But that is what we are targeting. So it's a very different aquifer than those that are currently Being utilized by the existing property owners Because of whoops now now you have me doing it. I'm going the wrong way so the the proposed well construction is is consistent with this the idea of Minimizing if not eliminating the potential for impact to the existing users so The screen openings for the well are not anticipated to occur until a depth of 550 feet so again We're trying to bypass that whole upper aquifer that is currently being Primarily utilized by the existing users and again This is all hypothetical because we really don't have the data yet, which is part of why this is an exploratory hole But but based on the available information. This is what we are looking for and this is what we are hoping to achieve here with tapping into a Isolated different aquifer than than that which is currently being used by existing residents So that that's the update on where we are with the emergency groundwater program and everything that we're moving forward with It's a number of different projects and We're happy to answer any questions you might have and Thank you what member doubt I Appointed myself to the first ad hoc groundwater committee Along with a couple of other members and I Guess the longer I was on it the more frustrated. I became what a surprise government rules get in the way I Didn't I was not aware at the time of the difference in permitting Requirements for an emergency well and a full production well We we came up initially with the concept that If we could put the wells on Park and rec property or school property. They could use the water so they were getting a benefit out of it and Only stipulation of that would have been that if there was an emergency we got to take the keys back That doesn't appear to be Viable solution So then we were stuck in the area where it's emergency wells and how are we going to find them and Sitem and all the things that the presentation today Had put forth the city is cursed I think everyone knows with the Rogers Creek Fault that runs through North South through What was Sinead Road the hospital up there Sutter Hospital? Memorial Hospital Doyle Park School it goes right through that area and Our water supply all the bulk of our water supply as presented today comes from the west and a lot of it has to get to The east of that fault So in my opinion personally It's one of the Achilles heels in our system that we really really need to find a solution for I don't think it takes a rocket science to figure that Someday out in the future this community will suffer from another earthquake on that fault Keep our fingers and toes crossed, but it probably is likely that's going to happen The other thing that has happened it historically also is because a part of our water supply from the Sonoma County water agency comes through surface flow in Dry Creek and Russian River and so We have had some incidents where chemical spills have occurred which shut the system down and so that's another Possibility of disruption to our water supply. So I really do support What was mentioned and that is? Let's keep going forward with ground water emergency wells But also look for other solutions that may be out there to supplement our system depending on what kind of tragedy hits us Well, I am also going to say that the water agency has been doing some things over the fault to be able to isolate the trunk lines So that we would only have to go overhead for a short period of short distance to get the system back Operational with temporary lines above ground They did want to snow my avenue I think they did one on 3rd Street, and I think maybe 9th Street, but I'm not quite sure about that one They've done a number of isolation Yeah, and that that gives us a little bit more insurance policy And then I also want to say that I think it's quite wonderful that You've named one of the wells after our chairman But but I think all of us feel Frustrated that this has gone so long and we've spent a lot of money But it's absolutely necessary that we carry this to fruition in my opinion Those are my comments other board member questions or comments What are educated me a little bit on like what are what are the kind of the scope of vulnerabilities to the supply well, so as Board member doubt mentioned the the issues that we were really looking at were Potential disruption to the Sonoma County water agencies system So as we mentioned there were you know, 95% of our supply comes from the Sonoma County water agency Although we have a number of turnouts and a lot of reliability and redundancy there are Basically two main aqueducts or transmission systems that feed our system from the Sonoma County water agency with a number of turnouts to our system They have been as board member down mentioned putting in a lot of Isolation valves and really helping improve that vulnerability One of the things we've talked about actually just earlier today Part of our team meeting was really trying to reach back out to the water agency and see do they have updated? Information on where they're thinking their vulnerable spots really are But what we're really concerned about is any kind of disruption to their supply whether it's As was mentioned there was a chemical spill In a number of years ago, but that did occur where I think it was a formaldehyde Tinker that fell into the river and contaminated the water supply there And also earthquake really is what we're looking at so anything that could and the earthquake is more about the distribution system and the network as opposed to the supply itself or Yeah, so with an earthquake what we're really worried about and on that map you saw that line That's the Rogers Creek fault right and as board member doubt it really kind of bisects our city And so we're really concerned that with a major earthquake, although with the isolation valves were better any kind of Disconnection to the water agency system or disruption so that they lose pressure can't get water into our system or Are limited to what's in their tanks and using that so it's just really trying to make sure that if there's an interruption You know we believe That we could they could have repairs and things made up in that sort of you know 14 day 15 day emergency scenarios That's really what we were looking for but really trying to get the system back up and running and connected What's the the 14 15 day? What is that based on? So 15 days is the number of days that an emergency well can operate in a calendar year So that's what's permitted regulation. Okay, not in terms of how quickly you think you can fix a water supply. Okay, I was like Optimistic, okay, but the thought is that major, you know connections could be reestablished during that time and we have a very robust Emergency department operation center where we run scenarios and look at making repairs and Making sure we have response protocols in terms of an emergency so You know we we think that with everything that sort of comes into play when in a major Catastrophic event happens and the resources that are could be available from other Communities depending upon where they're coming from that. It's likely that you know systems will get repaired and up back and running Our top priority really is to try and get the water system back up and running in terms of making sure there's water for fires There's water for hospitals, you know, it's for those emergency needs. So So the supply piece that sort of helps with that would be that that groundwater piece and looking at potentially those Superzone scenarios where we could try and get water to those areas It doesn't mean that we think we would have water to every single household But we think we'd have water to areas of the zone where people could come and get it Is it and is that part of why part of how you're choosing locations for the wells? Okay, and then I guess my next question would be is there a You're talking about is this sort of like a free attic zone long fossil aquifer that are you getting down that deep? If you're talking about the volcanic area, I mean that's a confined aquifer at that point so then what's the that's not There isn't really a possibility of recharge for that, right? Recharge is probably on the far east edges of the of the valley here. Okay with the fill on top And so basically it by the time it gets to the middle of the valley. It is now Okay, so there's not like an aquitard that like prevents that necessarily or it's There is not it's not a uniform aquitard And the only reason I ask is if that's the backup then and we use that say for an earthquake and then there's a spill What's the backup to the backup that you know? Any other board member questions or comments? Well, I would certainly echo what board member doubt had to say I think staff and the consultants have done a remarkable job of having to kind of retool and Maybe go in a little different direction to make sure that we take advantage of those test borings that we already have and hopefully Can convert them for less money and even though it may not generate? All the water we need it's it's a it's a start and We were kind of behind the curve and we're just going to have to keep pushing so thank you for your presentation and Keep us updated. Thank you. Thank you Okay, we have no minutes to approve. We have one staff briefing on water operations division overview I could just Introduce this presentation. This is a Rick Santorini our water superintendent in the idea behind this presentation is to periodically give the board An insight a window into the work that occurs day-to-day that typically aren't driven by projects So you don't often hear about it, but it is the backbone of The department of the city's water system and it's really great work that is done to ensure 24-7 when you open the tap there's Safe and reliable water Mr. Santorini, well, right. Well, good afternoon chairman. I'm Galvin members of the board. Thank you for having me here I'm going to give an overview of the water operations side of our wastewater Water local operations. I start with a picture of our crews here because they're the actual stars of the system to make it work So they're here from the UFO. This is back when our previous deputy director retired Anyway, so I'm at my outline. I'm going to talk a little bit about the history of the Santa Rosa water I know Jennifer already did some of the history stuff. Thank you. And You know, I got my degree in history. I did my 20s going to college getting a degree in history So anytime I can validate that experience. I like to use it. So We're going to talk about the duties that our operators would what our section fulfills the rules and regulations that we have to comply with I'm going to go over the organization itself as it pertains to the section that I manage Which is the assets maintained the usos themselves the crew responsibilities. I can read so that's what it works for me so and our standby and then some of the work that we do to assist others and Some highlights of our sit of our section and some challenges that I see So Santa Rosa water Prior to 1947 Santa Rosa had two separate water systems one municipally owned one private one It was called the Santa Rosa water works that was I guess originally called the McDonald's system And then in the May of 1947 The people of Santa Rosa voted a bond issue in two for improvements of municipal system that included buying the private system So once 1947 hit the end of by October The two systems were combined to one municipal water system Then at that time the city charter was established to form the BPU to oversee both the water and the sewer systems The BPU then started meeting on a regular basis to manage both systems or oversee both systems And came up a new policy matters Rates were in new rates were instituted to make sure the water department was self-sustaining and Then they started hooking up meters where they didn't have meters and putting maps in where they didn't guess I guess it wasn't well mapped and Try to sort of modernize the system somewhat. So then operationally they installed new equipment they instituted a 24-hour control system for their pumping operation and They started testing meters institute a work order system and then they got certified by the state to operate a water system So all this 1947 is a big year. So and then sorts it out water supply as Jennifer mentioned earlier till about 1959 came from springs wells and impounded surface water that surface water included Lake Ralfine Lake Ralfine would collected water from the water shed up there and then in that area and then also Collected water from Carly and Peter Springs wells over by Slater Middle School It pumped through a 14 inch main to fed the lake and at the bottom at the bottom of the dam And I remembered this when I was a kid there was a pump station there that had a little treatment facility that fed water into Santa Rosa so Just aged myself but anyway and then in and they also had the farmer lane wells which were at the You know at Sonoma Avenue where our farmers Lane treatment facility is a little bit down farmers Lane farmers Lane didn't exist then and The picture on here is actually the old Station for that's right where that yogurt shop is now across from Ross on farmer's Lane and then in 1957 as the city was growing that's when they drilled freeway well on Cleveland and Ridgway and had a good producer in there and that one they directly Injected the bachlorine and directly put it into its distribution system And then as Jennifer mentioned in 1959 we connected to the water agency I guess studies were done in in the 50s to Where to come up with more a steadier water source for the growing population here They joined up with the world was then the Sonoma County flood control and water conservation district For a Russian River supply and helped fund the building of coyote dam up at Lake Mendocino So in 1959 We got off our we put our production into standby mode and we got on to the aqueduct And I just I found a schematic from 1966. This is like the historian I mean it just likes looking at stuff like this and So this was our system with 37,000 people. We had Six water tanks three pump stations and 14 connections to the aqueduct so come to present day We are a little bit bigger here's the schematic of the present system right now and We have been certified by the state water resources control board To be a d5 distribution water system Water systems are rated anywhere from d1 to d5 depending on the size and complexity of the system and our system is a d5 system We predominantly get as mentioned all our water from Sonoma County aqueduct Right now we have 59 physical Regular connections to the aqueduct. We have 39 pressure reducing valves off of it 16 check valves We have 24 water tanks and 20 pump stations and our population we feed is 170,000 plus so and then in 2005 we got approval to put the farmers laying wells into active status and then so currently that's our sources are the aqueduct and And what wells we have and then some of our reclaimed water on Stony Point Road here as we keep comes our sources Lake Ralfine now It's just a boating lake and for ducks, but we still send water up there for the recreation purposes from Carly well So and then this is just an overview like you've seen it early in earlier presentation how big our system is You know the triangles are our tanks. We are our pump stations The reptile handles or our tanks and then we have the aqueduct flowing through it And then this is all our pressure zones So the blue zone says aqueduct zone those are direct feeds off the aqueduct But a lot of our area due to Elevation cannot be fed from the aqueduct so we have to have booster pump stations feed us so we have like 18 major Pressure zones and then off those pressure zones where it pumps up to a tank bleeds back down Pressure gets too high by the lower part of the elevation of that pressure zone. It has to be regulated to Make it sustainable for the residents who live in that area. So so it's it's somewhat of a complex area I've been to presentations were in the valley for example where people talk about two pressure zones for a city this size so Gets a little involved and then in our zone we have Anywhere pipes anywhere from four mains anywhere from four inch 24 inch our material of the pipes that we have to maintain is cast iron Which is like pre-1955 that was a predominant material use asbestos cement, which was 55 to 1985 and then currently we use a lot of PVC HDP and ductile iron So the duties of our section there are Pretty basic what you would think for a water maintenance section, but it's customer service So you know it used to be that miles always said when he was here customer services are number one function It still is our number one function. So customer service and then we do the obvious things We maintain the water mains and do water main and service leaks repairs. We Hope maintain our hot meters. We have a leak detection program and maintain all the hydrants the valves the booster pump stations the tanks Treatment plant we do we gather information for CIP for to give them information on projects that areas of deficient areas in our system And need to be improved upon and then we also do all the USA markouts that get requested by for Excavators for us to mark out our facilities And then rules and regulations that we need to follow well If you got the safe drinking water act through the state water resources control board, we have title 22 title 17 as it pertains to Domestic and recycled water. We have MPDS MPDES That how we regulate the potable water discharges we do into the storm drain system We you know, we do a lot of work that involves Flushing and chlorinated water and we have standards We have to meet to make sure we take the chlorine out of that water before it hits a creek We also have our WDR We also have notification requirements to the state when we have on Scheduled potable water discharges that put chlorinated water into a creek Those are mainly main brakes and hydra knockdowns and then we have developed best management practices For all our scheduled potable water discharges. We have regulations We have to meet from the fire department and the state of California dealing with hazmat pertaining to our underground fuel tanks We have one underground fuel tank at pump station four on Sonoma and farmers defeats the generator there We have the we have to follow all the USA regulations on how we mark out stuff and how we call in stuff to get marked out We have excavations obviously all the OSHA Sanderson requirements for the health and safety of our workers and then we also have a bay area Quality air quality management district requirements because we have a lot of for anything over 50 horsepower We have to have a permit for so we have a lot of equipment with generators and Compressors and pumpers that are over 50 horsepower didn't turn there So here's our organization So it starts with the deputy director and currently Joe Shiboni Then it's Ron and there's two superintendents Ron Marenchuk who oversees for the most part of the wastewater operation And then me who oversees the water operation. So Ron and I because we're a d5 system We're required to have a Water distribution certificate d5. We also have t2s We're only required to have a t1 because our well system at farmers Lane It's only been rooted rated a t1 system, but we are we can go up at hot one hired and what our system is So Ron and I both have t2s and then we're also required to have collection maintenance grade for Certificates and then again under us we have our sections for our supervisors all our supervisors Are required to have d3s and collection twos and one thing about this management team from superintendent down There's a lot of institutional knowledge here because everybody on this chart in the chart You'll see they all started here as incoming here maintenance workers from we were maintenance workers back in the day Or a USO ones everybody here has worked their way up through the ranks rotate it around promoted through the ranks to To like Ron and my level so so there's a lot of knowledge about the system itself. It's institutionalized here And then this slide just sort of quickly goes over our budgets You know the water o&m budget was seven point three million dollars last year about 40 percent of it's on services supplies rest on salaries and benefits and what's interesting about the services supplies is 30 percent of that 40 percent mark is Just electric cost it costs a lot of money to boost Prep and water up to pump water up to all those tanks and brought our wells and everything and and then there are 35% of the cost 35% of that 40% is all the cost is related to our equipment whether it's fuel maintenance equipment Replacement so and then this is just how the one on the right here is just how it breaks down among the different aspects of work we do here and then Water system besides we have a lot of assets so we maintain 20 booster pump station We have 57 pumps our pumps range anywhere from seven and a half to 300 horsepower. We have 24 Storage tanks. We have about 23 Million gallons in storage possibility our tanks earning were in size from a hundred thousand gallons to four million gallons We have our we have 19 stationary backup generators So all but one of our pump stations has a backup generator. So power goes out Generator comes on We have two production wells that have been talked about the treatment facility We've talked about and what the capacity of that is three emergency wells our systems on a skates Why we have a water skater system that helps run and manage our system remotely also acquires information for The engineering teams for their projects They need to do we have mobile equipment. We have two mobile generators We've got one mobile light trailer for mobile pumpers and one mobile We just bought a mobile emergency pipe trailer Which is a flex of the collapsible hose on a real six inch that allows us to jump things to and can time So and then in my section Person the supervisor that manages the booster pump stations also has sewer lift stations So the assets that we do in our section have to do with the lift stations, which we have 17 of them 40 pumps and motors anywhere from a one and a half to 60 horse We have six and a half miles of force main 13 generators stationary generators for those pump stations the power should go out and the mobile equipment in this A skater system that mirrors the water skater system and then a mobile generator there to mobile bypass pumpers And then a load bank so every year we take all our mobile generators or all our generators It's through our station our generous sorry and we put a full load on them with a load bank to make sure they meet the Parameters that are needed for that generator to run efficiently. So that's done as a yearly p.m. So And all this is done with our utility system operators So our utility system operators are required within three years of hire to get a Distribution one and a district and a collections to make collection one sort of certification They also are required within their probationary year of training provided by us to get their class a what a tanker endorsement And then all our us oh ones in us oh, too This is what really makes the succession planning here work is they all rotate yearly We have seven crews or a cruise cutting water quality Which is a different section and they then they have a chance to rotate among all of them. So they get a well broad out based knowledge based building up through the system and then our seniors and supervisors they stay on the crews and They become the system experts to help with that training So then our supervisors all get has whopper train our supervisors in Us senior us those get has whopper trained all our employees get confined space train have to get they have to get competent person Train they have to get traffic safety trained and first day to see PR training And the crews well the first crew we I'm not putting up here is the leak repair crew. It's managed by Mike see me He has two seniors under him Dominic Jorgensen and Edward Munga Dominic's on a temporary intern assignment now over at Doing inspection work, but he's got which it's his experience here helped them and then he has like four or five Rotational us those who worked under him in his section. He does all the water service leaks So water valve leaks. He has he's in charge of the leak detection program He's in charge of the hydrant maintenance program. They're in charge. They do they repair all the hydrant knockdowns They do flow test on hydrants Do either request from engineering for to see what the flow capacity of the hydrant is for Projects or we also flow test representative hydrants throughout the city to see what they are because if you notice when you drive through Santa Rosa The hydrants are all color-coded for the most part and the color coding just isn't because we think they look pretty that way It's that it's the color has to deal with what the flow capacity is that hydrant and it's a fire standard And so that helps the fire department when they pull up They know what the flow capacity of the fire hydrant is And then that crew also handles the customer service truck So they deal with all water sewer and urban reuse calls in Santa Rosa And they do all the USA markouts for the most part and then they also help us survey information for CIP so Just a little shout out for them last year that crew Maintained preventive maintenance on 500 foot fire hydrants They had repaired 58 fire hydrants, which 30 were knocked down so they flow tested over 114 They had tons of hydrants They had to repaint due to graffiti which is a growing problem here in Santa Rosa and then they also found 60 leaks Do their leak detection program and the importance of the leak detection program for water loss purposes is these are leaks that Don't surface so there does leak in underground and until we go there and survey a neighborhood by listening on every Asset that we can we can listen on you don't know until someone calls it in if his surface And that could be if it's small enough and the ground is dry enough to absorb it It could be months and the water loss is outstanding. So so we We're pretty proud of that project we with Resources it's hard to keep it going full full basis with staff, but But they took care of 60 lakes last year for that They also handled over a thousand customer service calls as they related to water and wastewater They get 12,000 requests for USA markouts, which about 4,000 or 5,000 need to be Require us to go out there and mark it out. So and then they also replaced or repaired 232 leaking water services Then we have a water distribution crew that's managed by Jason Tibbles He has three seniors under him the senior USOs as Troy Aether Jeff Silva Jason Dyer, and then he also has one senior water tech Simon Hood with two water techs Owen and John and The water techs are an interesting position because they're a combination of Electrician instrumentation tech in one position. So it's a good usage of that They handle anything from 480 volts down when it comes to our pump stations and lift stations and instrumentation stuff, so That crew Has is responsible for the mechanical electrical and instrumentation maintenance of all our lift stations or water booster pump stations Our production wells our water treatment facility our emergency wells our ground storage Water storage tanks and all our mobile and stationary equipment Also, they meant they oversee the both water and lift station skater. They do Hydraulic valve maintenance on all our pressure reducing valves that are off the aqueduct all the pressure reducing valves are within our pressure zones and Take care of all the pressure relief valves and all the air and vacuum valves They are very good about maintaining with our pump stations for energy use for a time of use program Where we pump it where and that's where we pump at night Where the energy is cheaper fill up our tanks and then let them drain back during the day And they're always monitoring that to make sure we're staying in those parameters and we're getting good turnover on our tanks, too And and then with their skater, it's everything they can monitor everything remotely We have skater they have skater on their iPhones and tablets So everything that can be done out in the field doesn't have to be done from an office situation We have our meters meter operations crew. That's Mike Illingworth the supervisor Jerry Benola advanced to wit They're the seniors on that crew and they do everything meter related. So their scope of responsibility Is we got 54,000 plus meters out there. So that's their responsibility. They got along with curved stops They got a hundred eighty Temporary construction meters the temporary construction meters are like the one hanging on the hydrant there that we put out for Contractors to have regulated use of water for their projects we also do all the They also they have 26,000 meter boxes to have to be maintained they They deal with our AMR, which is the radio read drive by radio read and our new AMI project for the remote read and Handle customer calls as it relates to meters They also they do age change replacements on age changes, they will They we usually we used to do this is good, too We used to change our meters out like every 10 years or so when I first came here It's like that's automatic 10 years then it's dressed to 15 and then it started like let's put these on the bench To see where they're at You know only after we pull them out and we're finding out with the quality of the water Santa Rosa has that We've stretched it out the 20 years and we're even talking about stretching out the 25 years And probably the thing that will limit with especially when AMI comes in the thing that will limit How long we do it is the life of the battery on the meter, you know for the AMI radio, so and then Let's see They Sorry, I lost my place. Okay. They install it could they do all the meter box repairs replacements Those are any sufficient meter boxes that could be a somewhat of a liability to the city of Santa Rosa They take care of We do meter testing so anything two inches below gets put on the test bench in the shop anything three inch and above gets field tested and that's very important because the meat especially the big meters out in the field they They draw revenue and we want to make sure they're reading accurately because all these projects that are coming up They all depend on the revenue sources that it's determined by the water meter So so we make sure they read correctly They do curb stop repairs they handle the customer calls like I said and they handle they also resolve any issues reported to them by the meter specialist We have our weekend crew this crew works Wednesday through Sunday. That's my Tony Yamas His senior on the one Wednesday through Sunday part is Steve Myers and then also sky Chan reports to him sky helps them but he also Is in charge of the maintenance here at the UFO and all the grounds too They have three rotational USOs that go to them and then the Tony also manages the yard attendants Those are the guys in the guard shack People in the guard shack that handle any calls after hours and then pass those calls on to the appropriate standby personnel So Tony's responsibilities crews responsibilities during the During the weekday they assist with the leak repairs. They do some leak detection He's charged but also maintaining the water reuse assets here on stony point and Oxenal Road, he does all the manhole repairs for I and I and he they've been in their surveys that they find For leaky manholes to cut out infiltration. They'll take care of that They assist with sewer repairs they take care of the UFO here and the pond to Maintenance and all the grounds around here and then during the week and they do special projects to on weekends They're they're it there's those four or five guys and every call that comes in they're the ones that respond So they get all the customer service calls and you know Saturday and Sunday We get a lot of customer service calls on weekends. They handle all the alarms They do special projects on weekends to help lessen the impact on businesses in public for traffic reasons They'll do things on Sundays or for shutdown reasons. They'll do a project on a Sunday where businesses are closed They take care of hydrogen knockdowns and main brakes is Continuously on weekends. There's one up here at Oakmont They I think they responded to pretty quick and it was a huge main break was a 12 inch main break it split a whole length out and Having someone here probably saved us hundreds of thousands of gallons More than what we actually lost so so it's very good to have they take care of any emergency work knockdowns Like I said any sewer backups and overflows they handle And they also do new water startups for customers customers will pay it out of an extra fee for Is that is that picture on top of a root ball? That is a root ball. Holy crap Look here. Yeah, so and then for after hours because we do go home and We still have we still have calls coming in so we have our utility system operators They who volunteer to be on standby? We have like 17 people They rotate on a weekly basis to handle all the calls after hours pertain to local operations thereby providing us with 24 7 covers certain customers and all so all the typical calls are listed here that they handle So I have a note here that Last year they handled like four hundred and ten calls after hours So then when there's work that we do to assist others in the past We have assisted other partners in the sub regional system between Ron's section and my section with I remember Katani We did a leak detection Assistance for them and we've Ron's crews had done CCTV inspections We've also assisted flow monitoring people who are the group and asset management was charged with flow monitoring We've assisted them we've assisted people with manhole entries We've assisted in the past the water agency with some hydro vacuum assistance Weekends the weekend crew many times on weekends the art attendant gets a call about some other problem That's not really Santa Rosa water related and they can't find the appropriate person to take care of it And if Tony deems it Tony or Steve deems that it's a significant issue to the public will take care of it And worry about whose responsibility it belongs to later We assist the public works CIP teams by potholing for the you know for to get information Potholing and lateral locations for information for their projects and any kind of survey stuff We we assist regularly to sub regional section or the regional section or what we're calling it now and With LTP with some pipe repairs in the bio solid section. We've made repairs out there We've assisted geyser operations with some flagging and other from grade Other issues they've had out there in the reclamation section section and then highlight You know when we got highlights of our operation We've been utilizing a trench list technology for a more cost-effective way for years We've been pulling water services. I don't know how many of you have ever gone out on tour of our Our operation here, but like we replace a water service when I first got here They were still trenching across the street This guy here in 1989. They were still trenching across the street And then what we do now is we dig a three by five hole over the water main go out to the meter box Disconnect the service from the water main run a cable with the new service on it pull it through So all we have disturbing the street for the most part of this something goes haywire It's a three by five hole that has to be filled in and repaired. That's that helps save the life of the street we few when the copper started getting more expensive and started getting stolen a lot and plus we started replacing water services with HD PE that's high density polyethylene and We also had various Even when we were putting sacrificial andos on the services that we were getting corrosion leaks within 15 years You can go to some neighborhoods like up in Skyhawk and there's patch after patch in the street because This the copper was just getting eaten up by electrolysis so we have decided to Unless there was some reason not to replace services with HD PE and now it's in the standards too. So that should save on that There's been an increased use in hydro excavation our hydro excavator our mud dogs allow us to dig smaller holes as opposed to a back hole it allows us to Dispose of any kind you know when you have a leak there's a lot of ground water a lot of water You need to get rid of before we used to just pump it out Sort of filter it a little bit and send it dead to the storm drain the hydro excavator allows us to Contain that so we're not putting that kind of water into the storm drain system We have a pump efficiency program started by Ron Morinchex And then continued when Jason took over and worked and it works with our sustainability team to make sure our pumps are running The most efficient way they can And then I already mentioned about the leak detection And then we have like I said we and I was I mentioned about the best management practices we had developed for disposable of our potable and excavation water and then Now the crews are starting to utilize paperless work orders more especially in our usa's we're doing all our you for the most part We're doing most our usa's on tablets We're the maps on a tablet the usa's on a tablet We could take a picture of our mark out to protect ourselves And so and that's just going to continue whenever the city develops their new work order system and then And then it's been talked about already before but 2016 the well-production of farmers Lane was about 400 million Gallons, that's about 1200 acre feet and I think it said represent about 7% of the water use in 2016 And then like to put on here about how our work benefits and serves a rate payer I think we do things to make sure the rate payer feels that they're getting a safe economical and dependable product along with adequate fire flow and we then do we do this by making sure we meet all our rate all the Regulatory requirements and go the extra step that we need to protect our water system and It's accomplished to the goals of our section which is to develop and maintain a well-trained Well-equipped informed knowledgeable staff And they provide efficient and cost-effective services and maintain a high level of customer service I think the high level of customer service that we provide Makes palpable as a resident of Santa Rosa makes palpable when we ask for a rate increase You know at least when fishing when people have interaction with those they know that they are getting at least a good bang for their buck You know, they're getting good service from us Then the future challenges in local water. Well, I would say addressing our money and addressing our aging infrastructure We have water mains that go back to the early 1900s still in town We have limited revenue that leads to constrained budgets We have limited budgets to keep up with technology changes in the industry I put in here past staffing reductions and in the last recession when we were told that we need to cut 15% of our budgets We actually axed out 10 USO positions. I think in 2009 or so so and we haven't recovered that, you know Improving staff skills and training I think to keep ahead of, you know industry changes addressing environmental impacts and safety issues is a challenge Training and providing opportunity for staff for an efficient succession planning plan with limited training budgets Retaining the current staff we have and recruiting additional qualified staff to address the future And then addressing migrating the effects of the volatile and rising energy costs this year We were we were told in our to expect a 20% increase in our PG&E cost So that's what we budgeted for so and then addressing the ever-changing government regulation laws and fees because that will continue to grow Anybody have any questions Or member questions or comments Very informative. Okay, like and again, I like that It's a shout out to all the people that work here at the UFO my job's easy My supervisors like to shout out to them because they make my job really easy by how well they manage their sections well Ricky did a great job of explaining what all the various departments do and Obviously Leadership starts at the top. So okay the good work. Well, I picked up in here 28 years. I picked up something Thank you Item six is public comments on non-agenda matters See no one rise. We have no referrals. We have one written communication On our CIP bid report any questions or comments on that? Hearing none any subcommittee reports Vice chair come Just want to let everyone know I called a meeting of the land ad hoc landscape subcommittee and we hope to meet soon to discuss updates to what's going on with the Contract, etc. Thank you Any other subcommittee reports board member reports? directors report Do have a few brief items? chair Gallum and board members Community outreach a couple items you may have seen the notifications. There's a Riment cutting for our sustainable educational garden at City Hall on June 20th from 10 to 11 30 and we hope to see you there particularly the chair because I believe you're speaking so the This time of year we're in full swing with our hydration station and have done a number of events already and have 13 and they're continuing to add Booked for the use has turned out to be a pretty popular enhancement for community events as you have probably seen or can imagine Did want to note that we We're going to be providing a Staff briefing for the board with more details on this but did want to share With you that the Sonoma County solid waste agency is in the process of looking for a regional compost facility and We've been talking with them for some time casually that There may be opportunities to look at a site in our buffer property around our treatment plant For one it's there and it'd be nice To benefit the ratepayers with some type of lease arrangement and also there's potential synergies and co-locating a Compost facility of that of course we do composting of biosolids in the treatment plant There's a number of things that are potential. We sent a letter that I'll pass you can take one if you'd like and we're currently Working with the agency and of course guided by Molly on What what's the best process to dovetail with their RFP process so this letter was Included when they sent out the RFP and we are already getting some Contacts of interest from parties and They may in fact Contact the board members or city council members This is a pretty big deal as you can imagine in the solid waste world We are encouraging folks Throughout the department that if you get phone calls from folks try and steer them towards Mike Prince who's the identified contact person So more to come on that but it is a Interesting and somewhat unique opportunity and will certainly keep the board apprised as that progresses The of course is you're aware. There's been ongoing work with the first meeting of the Santa Rosa Plain groundwater sustainability agency Specifically here wanted to note that there has been a release for The remaining seats all the members have one seat on the advisory board and there's an additional Seven open seats got that right Seven open seats for members of the public and other stakeholders, and there's an application process This available with criteria or target Areas of interest to inform potential applicants wanted to let you all know that as you heard from Deputy director Burke we are following up with Comments and concerns that were expressed by the community around the Spears Road emergency groundwater site It was a pretty good showing at a recent city council meeting with a fair amount of energy So that's going to be coming up on the 21st from six to eight with staff to what we believe is Working through a communication process to clarify Our intent and the technical issues you heard today that we believe will greatly reduce the Number of issues that they seem to have There may be some residual issues that our thought is after Working through meetings with them Will come and brief the board and let the members know so they can come here and share any Residual concerns they may have with you, and we likely will have a follow-up meeting with council and Offer them the same opportunity there But we're hopeful we are able to resolve all the issues These things can be tough as you know in Lastly, I believe you receive notification if not we can make sure you did for the annual boards and commissions Luncheon, so you're all invited of course, and you can respond to the city manager's office and lastly We are looking at summer schedules So if you have a chance you can respond to Sarah on availability and between Your all availability and staff's availability we may Converse with the chair on potentially canceling a meeting or two of the summer Any questions for the director? Thank you very much. I think that concludes our agenda, so we'll adjourn the meeting see you in a couple weeks