SOUTH YUBA RIVER, DONNER SUMMIT, AND THE NEW NPDES PERMIT

It's easy to wear the cynical hat over issues up here at Donner Summit. Between Royal Gorge LLC generated spin, SLPOA hoarding information from their members and the Serene Lakes community as if they were employed by Gringott's  Wizarding Bank in the Harry Potter stories, compounded by blocking nonmembers from their forum (it's lonely without you), and, now, the Royal Gorge LLC "current ownership group*" busily hammering up NO TRESPASS signs as fast as possible....well, you get the picture.....

Sometimes, though, a ray of sunshine breaks through at an unlikely time. Last Friday, at the Central Valley Regional Quality Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) hearing concerning Donner Summit Public Utility's (DSPUD) NPDES permit, upon the strong recommendations of staff, the full unanimous board voted to protect water quality, recreation, wildlife, and the health and safety of those who have contact with the South Yuba River.  

The board voted to NOT allow dilution credits. Simply put, DSPUD hoped to be allowed to exceed Federal and State limits on pollutants including diclorobromomethane (try saying that one fast), and nitrates. Coming on the heels of what is referred to as "the biostimulation event", aka the green slime in the river last June (slime in rivers, and lakes is usually a late summer/warm weather phenomenon), the board was very concerned about protecting beneficial uses of the South Yuba.

At the hearing, Robert Emerick, DSPUD's consultant stated that DSPUD had been counting on those dilution credits for, I believe, 3 years. This is unfortunate, as needed fixes to the plant in order to meet State and Federal standards have not proceeded apace.

Now, sewage effluent isn't something that most people spend much time thinking about. Out of sight, out of mind, and in Serene Lakes, once it goes through the pipe up at the top of Soda Springs Road, it seems like the problem is out of our hands. That's not the case though--what we're putting down our drains can have a very significant effect on the South Yuba River.

As unglamorous as this topic might be, our sewage disposal is one of the larger environmental concerns on Donner Summit, and our plant has needed a combination of tweaks in the methods of treating the effluent, some upgrades, or both.

What doesn't follow from the denial of NPDES credits is a need for a brand, new, shiny plant.  A few months ago DSPUD's EcoLogic consultant told an audience at Sugar Bowl that a new plant would cost about 10 million dollars. In the following 6 weeks that figure morphed up to the more realistic 20 million dollars. This was all independent of any development that might happen on the Summit; and considering the difficulties of procuring loans, and the hesitancy of counties to stick new developments with excessive Mello-Roos obligations, the likelihood of any bank/ developer signing on for 40 mil-- don't hold your breath.

So, here's my plug. The state has clearly indicated that what we put down the South Yuba is a big concern. You may start hearing that a new plant is needed, but there are quite a few changes that can be explored to maximize our not very old plant's potential. 

New Equalization tanks could smooth out loading. Open tanks could be covered in a variety of ways to retain heat--heck, you could paint a flock of floating rubber duckies black, and have a tourist attraction. I'm only half joking--I believe black styrofoam balls have been used to insulate different kinds of tanks at other cold weather locations.

Inflow and Infiltration (I and I) is a problem up here at Serene Lakes, and the district has been addressing that by improving our pipes and connections. Getting a handle on I and I will help with our discharge problems.

The list goes on, and, fortunately, SLCWD has hired a consulting engineer to oversee DSPUD's plans for plant upgrades. This may save us quite a lot of money in the long run, as fixing what we have will cost much less than a new plant.

Back to my plug.Try to attend SLCWD meetings when you can, and stay current on the sewage issues. It would have been nice if SLCWD had provided information to ratepayers about the NPDES issue. Hopefully they'll keep us more up to date on sewage improvements.

It also would have been helpful if Donner Summit Area Association (DSAA), whose motto is "one voice from Cisco Grove to Rainbow Bridge" had made a peep about the major issue confronting the South Yuba, which flows on down through Cisco Grove. And as for Serene Lakes Property Owners Association, it would be good to see them step back from their tawdry tango with Royal Gorge LLC, and realize that many of us on the Summit are, in a refreshingly anti-Nimby way, concerned about the whole Summit environment, not just in protecting our little enclave from rampant development.

Many of us don't want to sit back and watch all that we treasure in the Sierra go down the drain.

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*Who is the "current ownership group" when they're at home? There's some pretty odd phrasing in the No Trespass letter from Royal Gorge LLC, and given some recent indications that a certain Bank (in the) Midwest has been following the fortunes of Royal Gorge LLC pretty closely... but that's a topic for another day. Promise