HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – The public meeting of the Hidden Valley Lake Community Service District on Tuesday adjourned into a private meeting after the pledge of allegiance, but Dennis White, General Manager, answered questions over the phone. The customer switch-over to the new metal tank 9A on Eagle Rock Road August 12 was successful. Now HVL customers below the tank are being served through a new 250,000-gallon metal tank. The disconnected 150,000-gallon redwood tank, in service since 1968, is now being disassembled and removed in preparation for building the foundation for a second 250,000-gallon metal tank 9B on the site.
The completion of both tanks, giving an increased capacity of 350,000-gallons, will mean that the district will have cost savings from a shorter pumping distance to fill the tanks. Previously, water was pumped up to the 500,000-gallon tank on Little Peak before being gravity-fed down to Eagle Rock to the larger service area below it. The Little Peak tank will continue to serve a smaller community above the Eagle Rock site and can still be used as a backup reserve. Completion of the project, largely funded through grants, will serve the goals of updating infrastructure, fire-hardening and cost savings. Construction on the foundation for tank 9B should begin in two weeks and be completed by next summer at the latest.
More fire-hardening continues with the installation of back-up generators expected to be completed in late September. White reports that the project is currently ahead of schedule, with the pads completed and fencing and piping in place. Once operational they will ensure that water can still be pumped to storage tanks when the power goes out due to fire or weather emergencies. The tanks supply both drinking and firefighting water.
Roll-out of the digital metering systems continues through the Hidden Valley Lake district. Once installed, customers can download the EyeOnWater app, create an account and immediately see leak detection, relative daily and weekly water usage as well as 30-day average consumption. Once the new meters are throughout the district, more monitoring systems will signal CSD if there are detected water losses in the pipes between customers. They plan to keep upgrading and updating infrastructure at a rate that will minimize impact on ratepayers while assuring integrity of the water supply. Rates have increased at 12 percent per year from 2020-2023 and at nine percent for the last two years.
