SPRING VALLEY — After two hours and 20 minutes of heated discussion, the county Board of Supervisors passed an urgency ordinance Tuesday that will cut off the growth of new water hookups in Spring Valley.
The moratorium was passed based on findings by the Lake County Special Districts department — which manages the water system in Spring Valley — that “water usage within CSA No. 2 reached treatment plant capacity during July 2006,” according to the ordinance.
Approximately 40 concerned citizens from Spring Valley and surrounding communities came to participate in the urgency ordinance discussion.
The ordinance originally included a restriction which would prohibit “all landscape and outdoor water usage of water” according to rules the ordinance outlined. Addresses in Spring Valley were restricted to sets of two days per week on which to do their landscape watering.
Supervisor Gary Lewis suggested removing that restriction, and the board concurred.
Other significant revisions also were made including removing a $350 surcharge proposed for each day a violation occurred.
“How will this be policed?” asked Clearlake Oaks resident Chuck Lamb. “You”re going to have to rely on neighbors telling on other neighbors, and you run the risk of dividing the community when the community should be united.”
A 600-cubic-foot per month usage allotment was imposed. Six dollars per 100 cubic feet will be charged for anything over that, according to the ordinance.
This charge will be added to the tier charges already in place for Spring Valley.
The first tier imposes a 75-cent charge per 100 cubic feet after the initial 600 cubic feet of water, for which approximately $37 is charged. The second tier charges 90 cents for anywhere from 601 to 1,000 cubic feet. The third tier charges $1.20 for each 100 cubic feet between 1,001 to 2,000.
“You”re going to see almost double of your bill just for going almost 400 cubic feet over your allotment,” said Spring Valley resident Monte Winters. “There are a lot of people (in Spring Valley) who are retired, on a fixed income and not likely to change their habits. My suggestion was to double the tiers so there was a bit of a penalty, but it wasn”t a lot.”
Other restrictions include no filling of pools or spas from empty to full — “topping off” is acceptable and water from fire hydrants is limited to firefighting purposes.
The ordinance was drafted by Special Districts Director Mark Dellinger, along with county counsel, and brought before the board by Peggy King of the Lake County Special Districts office.
King was joined by consultant Jerry Dehn of Redding-based CH2M Hill. The consulting firm is currently in the process of deciding what needs to be done to correct Spring Valley”s water system problems in the long run.
“The consultant is generating ideas for how we may want to phase improvements to address the long-term capacity issue,” said Dellinger.
According to King, the treatment capacity of Spring Valley”s water system is not currently known.
Spring Valley Lakes Property Owners Association Florence Kinder pressed the board and the consultant on the issue, saying, “We want our answers today!”
Dehn said these figures and recommendations are expected Oct. 10. “We”re all here to help,” he said.
Spring Valley currently has 412 active water hookups (which means they are actively transporting water), another 52 that are ready to be used but are currently inactive and 31 more service orders for water hookups. At 495 current water hookups, that”s 26-percent growth since 2001, according to public water system statistics provided in King”s report to the board.
The last water moratorium in Spring Valley was lifted after 10 years in 2002.
The Board of Supervisors will revisit the ordinance and its applications in 45 days, and every 30 days subsequently, until the problems are solved, said Lewis.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
