Napa County Water Quality: It's a Matter of Taste*

Drinking water supplied by all Napa County municipalities meets all USEPA and State Water Resources Control Board standards and is safe to drink. Response: The City agrees with this finding. As indicated by the City's Consumer Confidence Reports, in all cases the City meets or exceeds all established standards.

Drinking water supplied by each municipality is acknowledged by all Napa County Public Works officials to have, from time-to-time, predictable Taste and Odor (T&O) and color issues which, while not unsafe, the water-consuming public may find objectionable and cause for concern. RECEIVED SEP - 6 2019 City of St. Helena • 1480 Main Street, St. Helena, CA 94574 Website: www.cityofsthelena.org Napa Superior Court <b>Court Executive Office</b> 6 . 2018-2019 Napa County Grand Jury Response - Water Quality August 28, 2019 Response: The City partially disagrees with this finding. While the City has recognized T&O complaints, the complaints are not predictable. To improve T&O the City, in December 2017, began utilizing a Carbon Filtration System (CFS) when the City received a spike in T&O and color complaints. The CFS uses a bed of activated carbon to remove contaminants and impurities that cause T&O. Since the installation of the CFS, the amount of T&O complaints has reduced by 75%. The City of St. Helena also purchases water from the City of Napa via the Rutherford connection. This water does not filter through the City's plant, so it is not treated with CFS which may result in T&O.

Communication of water quality testing and T&O and color issues to the public by all Napa County Public Works municipalities is inconsistent and, at time, inadequate. Response: The City disagrees with this finding. The City publishes the Annual Consumer Confidence report online as well as monthly and weekly water reports. Operation (and testing) of public water distribution systems are heavily regulated by the State of California. The City takes great pride in operating a system which meets or exceeds the State requirements for the City's Water Distribution System. In addition, all complaints regarding water related issues are followed up by City staff and noted in a complaint log. A member of the City's Public Works department responds to the complaint, conducts and investigation, and follows up with the responsible party. In cases where there is a concern, or the system is in other than normal operations, the City uses a variety of options to communicate with the public including media releases and emergency notification systems (NIXLE).

Napa County Public Works officials are aware of existing T&O and color issues and a number of municipalities are assessing and testing various treatment options for improvement, including long-term capital improvement projects. Response: The City partially disagrees with this statement. The City of St. Helena is not responsible for the treatment of water for other municipalities. As stated in F2, in December 2017, the City began utilizing a CFS which eliminated much of the T&O at the City of St. Helena's Water Treatment Plant and greatly reduced complaints. It is important to note water purchased through the City of Napa does not go through the City's CFS treatment process.

Public Works official's countywide treat T&O and color issues as less important than Federal and State regulated contaminant standards, thereby minimizing T&O and color concerns in their water treatment standards and reporting. Response: The City disagrees with this finding. The City (and City staff) treat all complaints with the same urgency and concern as evidenced by the complaint and response logs. T&O can be an indication of distribution system (or treatment plant) é 2018-2019 Napa County Grand Jury Response - Water Quality August 28, 2019 health, and other than normal operations. As such, staff responds promptly to investigate, remediate (if needed), and follow-up with the responsible party on the complaint.

All municipalities lack formal written procedures for the handling of water quality complaints. Response: The City partially disagrees with this finding. The City does not know what written procedures exist at other agencies. The City staff does have a complaint log, but does not have a formal written policy. A written policy will be developed and implemented on, or before June 30, 2020, per the Grand Jury request.

There are large disparities in household drinking water and wastewater rates between the municipalities, with smaller up-valley cities in Napa County paying much higher costs for the same amount of residential drinking water and wastewater. Response: The City agrees with this finding. However, the City notes that water and wastewater rates are highly governed by a number of state laws. Rates cannot exceed the actual costs to deliver that service in each community based on its water supply, maintenance and operations costs, capital improvement program costs, and personnel and other costs. The rate setting process is typically on a 5- year cycle and is governed by the majority protest and other procedures of Propositions 218 and 26 and their implementing state laws.

Residents of mobile home parks, gated communities and apartment buildings do not always receive communication about water quality or taste and odor issues - rather the owner/operator/manager of the site received required water quality notifications and is not required to pass the notification on to individual residents. Response: The City partially disagrees with this finding. The residents of the City receive notification of all, other than normal, water operations from a variety of methods including the $t. Helena Star, e-news notifications, NIXLE, the SHINE Newsletter (a quarterly City distribution), and the City's website. This is typical for all City water customers and does not exclude the residents on any of the examples listed in F8. The City continues to work on more effective and efficient communications in all interactions with the public including the recent development of a communications checklist. Over the past year, City staff has compiled a list of all addresses in the City where important communications can be delivered. This list includes individual mobile homes and apartment units.