KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A meeting to discuss the prospect of consolidating several small water companies in the Kelseyville area will be held this week.
Lake County Special Districts and the State Water Resources Control Board will host the informal meeting at the Rivera Common Grounds Coffee in Clear Lake Riviera Shopping Center at 9736 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville on Friday, Nov. 10, at 10 a.m.
Interested members of the public are invited to attend.
The purpose of the meeting is to talk about the possibility of consolidating a number of the small water companies along the lake from Sunrise Shores up to Konocti Harbor Inn.
The costs to make drinking water keep rising and there is nothing on the horizon that says this will change in the coming decades.
State-mandated standards keep increasing in number or getting tighter, and there is nothing on the horizon that says this will be changing over time, either.
Many local water companies are very small and are supported in whole or in part by volunteers. Recruiting both volunteer and paid help is a constant challenge.
Water companies’ functions are divided into two main areas: producing safe drinking water and distributing it to the customers through a system of storage tanks and pipelines.
Some companies have infrastructure that was built in the 1930s, while others have newer storage tanks and pipelines.
There are several ways to consolidate water companies. Those companies with newer pipelines and tanks will not want to take on the costs of replacing the aging infrastructure of other companies.
One consolidation structure is to have each company remain separate and distributing water to its own customers, but share a larger, regional water plant that produces the water or buy the water in bulk from that larger plant. State funding is available for consolidation of water companies that would allow these companies to join their resources.
By voluntarily combining efforts to produce drinking water that meets the state’s standards and send it out to customers, the companies have a chance to benefit from economies of scale in obtaining insurance, supplies, lab testing services and staff.
Persons interested in obtaining more information can also attend a free online workshop sponsored by Rural Communities Assistance Corporation called “Partner Up: Achieve Success by Working with Others” on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m. Register for this free workshop by going to www.rcac.org.
The Nov. 10 meeting will be a preliminary public meeting to assess interest in a joint water project. Funds are available now for a project like this, but the funds may not last for long.
For more information, please call Mary Benson at 707-994-1005. Benson is a licensed water treatment operator who has been involved in the water business for more than 15 years. She is the volunteer supervising watermaster at Crescent Bay Improvement Company in Jago Bay.
Water company consolidation meeting planned for Nov. 10
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
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