HomeMy WebLinkAbout21 Water Quality Mornitoring Regulatory Requirementsenda item;;
To: Board of Directors
From: Brian Wright
Date: May 16, 2018
Subject: New Regulatory Requirements Associated with Water Quality
Monitoring in California
21
1. WHY THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE BOARD
This workshop item is to update the Board on recently implemented and anticipated
drinking water regulations.
2. HISTORY
The District's water utility provides safe and reliable drinking water to residents,
businesses, and visitors to theTruckee community each and every day. This
responsibility is accomplished through the operation and maintenance of 12
groundwater wells, more than 200 miles of distribution system pipe, 32 storage tanks
and 27 booster stations. The drinking water delivered by the Truckee Donner Public
Utility District meets or exceeds all federal, state and local water quality requirements.
Based upon the number of potable service connections supplied by the District
(nearly 13,000), the Truckee -Main System quaes as Cl" "Urban Water Supplier" and
falls under the regulatory compliance requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act
enforced by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Title 22 of the
California Code of Regulations, enforced by the State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB). Each year the District conducts weekly, monthly, annual and
periodic water quality sampling, testing and reporting, as required by the public water
system operating permit issued by the SWRCB.
The District resources dedicated to completing all of the the regulatory compliance
and monitoring requirements include the cooperative efforts of a well trained and
coordinated staff, including efforts from water quality and operations, administrative
services, engineering and management. This joint effort is reflected in the District's
ability to publish each year, a water quality Consumer Confidence Report, reassuring
its customers of a clean, safe, and reliable potable water supply.
In 2014, the Governor's office of the State of California transferred the regulatory
authority for water quality compliance of public water systems, as prescribed by Title
22 of the California Code of Regulations, from the California Department of Public
Health (CDPH) to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). In the
process of this transition, the District was reassigned to the Sacramento District
Engineer, from its previous reporting assignment to the Valley District Engineer
(Redding, CA).
3. NEW INFORMATION
The District experienced several changes in regulatory oversight as well as the
addition of new water quality monitoring requirements, many of which bring additional
annual operating costs. The District has responded to all of these new requirements
with the most visible being the testing for lead in public schools. Staff is currently
working with TTUSD and other local campuses within the District's service area to
meet all regulatory requirements, and to educate the students and public on why the
testing is taking place.
This workshop item provides an overview to the Board of some of the more recent and
significant regulatory changes, including:
• UCMR 4 -The Federal EPA publishes a list of 30 new contaminants to be
tested by public water systems for the Unregulated Contaminant Rule 4;
• Public Water System Fees - SWRCB passed new regulation replacing
previous Health and Safety Code (HSC), establishing new fee schedules for
public water systems;
• Lead in Drinking Water - SWRCB issues permit amendment to all public water
systems requiring compliance with respect to testing of public schools for lead
in drinking water;
• California AB 746 -Requires public water systems to test all public schools for
lead in drinking water by July 2019, irrespective of a formal request from the
school district;
• 132,3-TCP - SWRCB issues revised monitoring rule and MCL for 1,2,3-TCP;
and
• Emerging contaminants of concern -SWRCB notification on emerging
contaminants of concern
4. FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this Workshop item.
5. RECOMMENDATION
Accept this report and provide input to staff.
Michael D. Holley
General Manager /Water Utility Manager