[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATER QUALITY - 7/15/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

July 15, 2008

 

4. Water Quality –

 

 

 

Flash flood run-off makes trouble for Bakersfield drinking water

BakersfieldNow.com- 7/15/08

By Carol Ferguson

 

Flash floods in the mountains are causing problems for Bakersfield drinking water. Dirt and silt are being washed down the Kern River, forcing California Water Service to shut down one water treatment plant -- and cut back another to 10-percent.

Floods have washed water down Erskin Creek near Lake Isabella during thunderstorms Saturday, Sunday, and again Monday afternoon. That sent families for higher ground -- and eventually filled the Kern River with dirt from the recently-burned areas of the Piute Fire.

That river water is used for drinking in several parts of Bakersfield, but they can't treat water with as much sediment as it has now.

"We're treating, but we're using emergency supplies in the Northeast treatment plant," California Water Service District Manager Tim Treloar told Eyewitness News Monday afternoon. "As of right now, we've had to shut down our Northwest plant."

Treloar says the Northwest treatment plant usually gets water from the Beardsley Canal, fed from the Kern River. Now, in this area Cal Water is using more ground water pumped from wells.

At the Northeast plant, they pull water from the Kern River -- and they have a three-day emergency supply stored nearby. That emergency water is clean and it has been treated. But they're about out of that supply.

Treloar says since there have been gaps in these mountain thunderstorms, there are gaps in the really bad water in the river. They've checked, and think some cleaner water will come down early Tuesday morning.

They'll use that "window" to hopefully process 8-million gallons of water at the Northeast plant. That facility usually processes 20-million gallons a day.

"Tomorrow is going to be kind of the beginning of our crucial time to be able to make it," says Treloar. "And, if we do indeed get a window of better water -- still not very good, but better water -- then we'll use it. We can't deal with the water we're getting at the moment."

The muddy Kern River water is affecting a couple city facilities, too. "The Park at Riverwalk , we've shut off the river flow to the park," City Water Resources Manager Florn Core told Eyewitness News. "We've also shut off flow to the Truxtun Lakes."

Core says the lakes may start to look lower, and the creek at Riverlakes may go dry.

As for the drinking water, Treloar says all of it will be safe and clean. The river water they can process will be treated to remove any pathogens.

Treloar says some residents may notice an odor to the water for a few days. That could be caused by additional processing. And he says residents in the northwest could notice lower water pressure. That could happen because more water's being pumped from wells.

The water managers say they've dealt with run off into the Kern River before after fires and mountain storms. It can take three days or so after the storms before the river water starts to clear up -- and a couple weeks before it's completely clean.

California Water's Tim Treloar says the next couple days will be the toughest. He hopes residents will be understanding -- and help.

"I guess we're asking our customers in the northeast and northwest part of Bakersfield to be very judicious," says Treloar. "We're not calling for anything mandatory. We're not asking anybody to do anything completely out of the ordinary.

"But, just please don't use water wantonly, and do not waste a drop for the next few days until we get out of Mother Nature's grasp."#

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/25450819.html