Napa County Grand Jury • 2018-2019 • Agency Response
Response to: Napa County Water Quality - It's a Matter of Taste

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

Published: August 07, 2019 39 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 8 findings

F1 Page 1
Drinking water supplied by all Napa County municipalities meets all USEPA and State Water Resources Control Board standards and is safe to drink. Town of Yountville • 6550 Yount Street • Yountville • California • 94599 Telephone (707) 944-8851 • FAX (707) 944-9619 The Town's Response: The Town Agrees. As indicated by our Consumer Confidence Reports. In all cases the town meets or exceeds all established standards.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
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Each Napa County municipality's Department of Public Works explain on its City and/or Department of Public Works website, in water invoices, via social and other local media, what ongoing water quality tests are taken, where and when are they taken, and what is required if results do not meet USEPA and State standards. Each of Napa County's five Department of Public Works should implement these actions no later than June 30, 2020. <b>The Town's Response:</b> The recommendation has been implemented. The Town currently includes information such as its Customer Confidence Report (CCR) on its website at www.townofyountville.com and has in the past utilized social media and media releases to inform and educate its residents on water quality issues. The Town commits to continuing this recommended action. The Town notes that it does not operate Rector Reservoir which is operated by the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA/Veterans Home) and as the water treatment facility operator that department should also be included in sharing this information.
F2 Page 2
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 a cause for concern. The Town's Response: The Town partially disagrees. While the Town has recognized some T&O complaints (verified in the complaint and follow up log as provided) the complaints are not predictable. The Town agrees that there is no cause for concern in the complaints for T&O that have been investigated and followed up on with Town staff and the person (or business) filing the complaint. The vast majority of the complaints have been about low water pressure and not T&O. It should be noted that the T&O complaints noted in the Grand Jury report On April 5, 2019 were a result of the treatment process which is an operation conducted at the Rector Reservoir Treatment Plant which is owned and operated by the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA/Veterans Home). The Plant did acknowledge that the problem was a result of a filter failure and treatment process. As a result the Town went on City of Napa Water for a period of 66 days while the filters were re-conditioned and repaired.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
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Each Napa County municipality's Department of Public Works advise citizens of known and anticipated T&O and color issues by notices on its Department of Public Works website and within social media and news media. Each of Napa County's five Department of Public Works should implement these actions no later than June 30, 2020. The Town's Response: The recommendation has been implemented. The Town has previously utilized and will continue to utilize its website at www.townofyountville.com and social media and media releases to inform and educate its residents on water quality issues. The Town commits to continuing this recommended action. The Town notes that it does not operate Rector Reservoir which is operated by the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA/Veterans Home) and as the water treatment facility operator that department should also be included in sharing this information.
F3 Page 2
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 times, inadequate. The Town's Response: The Town disagrees. The Town publishes the Annual Consumer Confidence report online and issues a media release (examples provided). Operation (and testing) of public water distribution systems are heavily regulated by the State of California. The Town takes great pride in operating a well maintained system which meets or exceeds the State requirements for the Towns Water Distribution System. In addition, all complaints regarding water related issues are followed up by town staff and noted in a complaint log (copy provided) a member of town staff responds to the complaint, conducts an investigation, and follows up with the responsible party. In cases where the is a concern, or the system is in other than normal operations the Town uses a variety of options to communicate with the public including media release, social media and emergency notification systems (NIXLE) (examples provided).
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
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Each Napa County municipality's Department of Public Works identify, evaluate, and estimate water treatment process improvements and longer-term capital improvement programs that could mitigate T&O and color issues in their respective water treatment operations. Each of Napa County's Department of Public Works should implement these actions no later than June 30, 2020 for the 2021/2022 budget year. The Town's Response: The recommendation will not be implemented because the Town is not the operator of the water treatment plant facility at Rector Reservoir. The Town is a wholesale water customer of Rector Reservoir which is operated by the California Department Veterans Affairs (CDVA/Veterans Home). As it is not the owner or operator of Rector Reservoir and water treatment plant facility, the Town does not have jurisdiction over this facility and cannot implement this recommendation, although it does agree with the recommendation as it is consistent with the Town's own long-range capital planning and improvement program policies.
F4 Page 2
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. The Town's Response: The Town partially disagrees. The Town is not responsible for the treatment of the water supplied to Town customers. Water Treatment operations and processing are conducted at Rector Reservoir Treatment Plant which is owned and operated by the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA/Veterans Home). The Veterans Home is in the process of a project to remedy some of the past T&O issues that have been reported and are consistent with treatment and processing failures at the plant.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
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Each Napa County municipality's Department of Public Works publish T&O and color quality measures and results as part of their Annual Consumer Confidence Water Quality Report provided to citizens. Each of Napa County's Department of Public Works should implement this action in the 2019 Report published by June 30, 2020. The Town's Response: The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future by the June 30, 2020 deadline.
F5 Page 3
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. The Town's Response: The Town disagrees. The Town (and Town Staff) treat all complaints with the same urgency and concern as evidenced by the complaint, and response log provided in previous examples. T&O can be an indication of distribution system (or treatment plant) 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 results of the complaint.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
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Each Napa County municipality's Department of Public Works establish a formal written complaint policy identifying how complaints should be received, processed, tracked, responded to, and reported, including a written complaint resolution notice to be issued for every complaint. Each of Napa County's Department of Public Works should implement these actions no later than June 30, 2020. The Town's Response: This recommendation has been partially implemented and full implementation is expected by June 30, 2020. The Town has an IOS and Android app called MYville which has a "report it" feature allowing residents to report on a number of complaints to town staff, including water quality complaints. The Town is receptive and agrees to evaluate its current processes and to look at ways to improve the process for managing water quality complaints including development of a written formal policy.
F6 Page 3
All municipalities lack formal written procedures for the handling of water quality complaints. The Town's Response: The Town partially disagrees. The Town does not know what written procedures exist at other agencies and Rector Reservoir. The Town 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.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
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Each Napa County municipality's Department of Public Works establish a formal written communication policy identifying how to better communicate to and interact with customers in mobile home parks, gated communities, and apartment residents that are beyond the water meter. Each of Napa County's Department of Public Works should implement these actions no later than June 30, 2020. The Town's Response: The recommendation has been partially implemented and full implementation is expected by June 30, 2020. The Town has an IOS and Android app called MYville which has a "report it" feature and a news feature which shows current Town-provided information allowing residents (including those in mobile home park communities and apartment complexes who may have individual meters) access to information from the Town on water quality and other issues. The Town is receptive and agrees to evaluate its current processes and to look at ways to improve the process for communicating to residents beyond the water meter including development of a written formal policy.
F7 Page 3
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. The Town's Response: The Town agrees. However, the Town notes that water and wastewater rates are highly governed by a number of state laws. The 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.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
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The LAFCO Municipal Service Review of drinking water and wastewater countywide resources recommendations are due in February 2020. Each Napa County municipality's senior municipal elected officials should review, evaluate, respond to, and where appropriate, incorporate the LAFCO MSR recommendations into each Napa County municipality's operating and long-range plans. Each of Napa County's senior municipal elected officials should implement these actions by no later than June 30, 2020. The Town's Response: The recommendation requires further analysis as the referenced report has yet to be completed or released and is expected in February 2020. The Town agrees that review and consideration of implementation of possible recommendations contained in the LAFCO MSR is important. As with other recommendations and reports from LAFCO, the Town is committed to a thorough review and analysis of this report once it is published in early 2020. However, before the Town can commit to implement a course of yet unknown recommendations, it would be appropriate for the Town to review, evaluate, and fully understand the scope and implications of the recommendations contained in the LAFCO MSR. The Town welcomes and appreciates the Grand Jury's interest in the Town's operations, as well as the opportunity to respond to the findings and recommendations contained in the report. Sincerely, Steven R. Rogers, Town Manager Town of Yountville Attachments:
F8 Page 3
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 receives required water quality notifications and is not required to pass the notification on to individual residents. The Town's Response: The Town does not entirely agree. The residents in town receive notification of all other than normal water operations from a variety of methods- including the Yountville Sun, The Myville app which includes the current news feature and a report application as well, NIXLE Alerts and a variety of social media applications. This is typical for all town water customers and does not exclude the residents on any of the examples listed in F.8. The Town continues to work on more effective and efficient communications in all of the interactions with the public.
No recommendations for this finding

Comments 8

No Responses Found 1

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County of Napa Agency

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.