LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council received an update at its Tuesday meeting regarding new requirements imposed by the state on the city water supply.

Utilities Director Mark Brannigan gave the council the report on the city's domestic water supply permit from the California Department of Public Health.

Brannigan said the agency issued the city a revised domestic water permit in December, with the document including a series “of significant changes.”

Perhaps the most serious of those changes involved the state's concerns over the city's Scotts Creek water wells, he said.

In 1998 a flood caused Scotts Creek to change course, Brannigan explained.

“It continues to change course, even today, to where these wells are located directly in the center of the creek now,” he said.

The city used to be able to draw on the wells year-round, but now the wells can only be used when there is no surface water within 100 yards of them, Brannigan said.

Brannigan said state officials have expressed concern that the wells could be damaged by debris in the creek and off-highway vehicle use.

Despite the concerns, “The water quality is wonderful,” Brannigan said of the wells, noting that the city has never been in violation on its water sources.

“They are concerned that something could happen to these wells and it's a concern for public health,” he said.

The state wants the city to evaluate – and come up with a plan to address – the Scotts Creek wells' vulnerability, Brannigan said.

He said city staff is looking at a funding solution, including possible application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state revolving fund for low-interest loans for system improvements.

Brannigan told the council that the state also listed deferred maintenance issues on the city's new permit.

One of the deferred maintenance issues in question deals with carbon filtration, Brannigan said.

For about four years the city has needed to replace carbon filters that handle taste and odor for water. Currently the city continues to run its treated water through two such filters.

There also was an issue with a 1.5-million gallon water storage tank, which at one point had paint peeling off the interior, Brannigan said.

The tank, built in 2000, didn't last as long as the city had hoped, with Brannigan noting that it had to be taken down and resurfaced due to the paint issue.

The city also has pumps that are failing and that are no longer supported by the manufacturer, he said.

State inspectors witnessed those issues during visits to the city, Brannigan added.

In the new permit Brannigan said the state included additional requirements for operational samples and testing not in the previous permit.

Among those requirements, the city must monitor the Scott’s Creek wells every day they are running, and hold weekly – rather than monthly – alarm testing. There also are more requirements for coliform sampling, which leads to higher costs for lab analysis.

The new permit looks at those issues and, as a result, is going to substantially affect operations, Brannigan said.

City Manager Margaret Silveira told the council that the city is trying to cover those issues in an application to the USDA.

She said the city was just notified that it is considered a disadvantaged community, which should give it a better chance at receiving a low-interest loan for improvements.

“I was wondering where the good news was,” said Councilman Tom Engstrom.

In other news, the council approved a minor 0.3 percent adjustment to the increase for solid waste disposal for Lakeport Disposal.

The council had approved a 2.4-percent increase in December, but realized afterward that its consumer price index did not match the one used in the Lakeport Disposal contract, which was for 2.7 percent.

Brannigan also asked for, and received, council approval to join with 17 other local water agencies for the five-year update on the state-required "Sanitary and Source Water Assessment Survey of the Clear Lake Watershed Area."

City Engineer Scott Harter received council approval on a resolution to allow him to apply for a block grant for the California Energy Commission's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, which supports cost-effective energy efficiency projects by local governments.

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