From the State Water Resources Control Board:
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) received funding authorization to perform a Needs Analysis regarding the state of drinking water in California. Staff of the State Water Board will be conducting workshops as an opportunity to inform ourselves, and other interested parties, of similar work of being conducted by other drinking water experts to ensure that the funding is utilized in the most efficient manner possible. The workshops will also provide interested persons and the public an opportunity to provide input to staff. While a quorum of the State Water Board members may be present at the workshops, these will be informational workshops only, and the State Water Board will take no formal action.
Public water system workshop
While most public water systems[1] in California meet water quality standards, there are some that do not serve safe drinking water. Public water systems that have water quality violations will be included in the Needs Assessment. However, in addition to current violations, some systems lack the technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity to operate in a sustainable manner. The public water system workshop will focus on developing criteria that can be utilized to identify unsustainable drinking water systems so that they may be included in the Needs Assessment. Experts from the following entities will be speaking at the public water system workshop: Rural Community Assistance Corporation; California Rural Water Association, University of California, Davis; University of California, Los Angeles; Pacific Institute; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
The public water system workshop will be held:
Friday, January 11, 2019 from 10 am -4 pm
Byron Sher Auditorium
Cal/EPA Headquarters, 2nd Floor
1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814Domestic well workshop
Residents in many areas of the state are served by wells that are not part of a public water system (“domestic wells”[2]). Due to the lack of statewide reporting requirements for domestic wells, significant data gaps exist. State Water Board staff want to explore the best sources of information regarding domestic wells, especially those located in areas with groundwater contamination that could threaten the domestic wells. The Needs Assessment will need to explore potential remedies for threatened domestic wells, such as installing treatment or connection to a nearby water system. To ensure these potential needs are also assessed, the State Water Board is holding a second workshop focused on the state of domestic wells in California. The State Water Board is aware of multiple agencies and groups working on this topic, and this workshop will provide an opportunity to understand the current state of research and potential for collaboration.
Additional agenda information and speaker information will be provided in a subsequent announcement.
The domestic well workshop will be held:
Friday, January 18, 2019 from 10 am – 4 pm
Byron Sher Auditorium
Cal/EPA Headquarters, 2nd Floor
1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
A third workshop will be conducted later in 2019 focused on evaluating methods for determining the capital costs and long-term operation and maintenance costs of addressing those water systems and domestic wells identified during the Needs Assessment process. The workshop will also evaluate assumptions regarding options for physical and managerial consolidation as opposed to treatment and/or infrastructure replacement. The date of the third workshop will be provided in a subsequent announcement.
A video webcast of each workshop will be available at the following website during the duration of the workshop: https://video.calepa.ca.gov/. Presentations will be available within three working days after the workshop on our website at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/wpc_events.html.
PARKING AND ACCESSIBILITY
For directions to the Joe Serna, Jr. (CalEPA) Building and public parking information, please refer to the map on the State Water Board website:
https://calepa.ca.gov/headquarters-sacramento/location/
The CalEPA Building is accessible to persons with disabilities. Individuals requiring special accommodations are requested to call (916) 341-5254 at least 5 working days prior to the meeting. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) users may contact the California Relay Service at (800) 735-2929 or voice line at (800) 735-2922.
All visitors to the CalEPA Building are required to sign in and obtain a badge at the Visitor Services Center located just inside the main entrance (10th Street entrance). Valid picture identification may be required. Please allow up to 15 minutes for receiving security clearance.
If you have any questions about the workshops, please contact Michelle Frederick at michelle.frederick@waterboards.ca.gov.
[1] 2017 Annual Compliance Report for Public Water Systems
[2] For the purpose of the workshop, “domestic wells” will include state small water systems as defined in the Health and Safety Code.
Click here to view all posted announcements.
Get the Notebook blog by email and never miss a post!
Sign up for daily emails and get all the Notebook’s aggregated and original water news content delivered to your email box by 9AM. Breaking news alerts, too. Sign me up!
