Anonymous
Wastewater Pipe Rehabilitation (Photo: City of Santa Barbara)
Source: Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
[Tuesday], the Santa Barbara City Council received an update on the City’s progress in reducing sewage spills, prompted by a lawsuit filed by local water watchdog Santa Barbara Channelkeeper in 2011. Thanks to heightened investments in sewer system inspections, cleaning and repairs, the City reduced spills from a high of 41 in 2009 to 7 in 2018, or by 83 percent.
Channelkeeper Executive Director Kira Redmond testified before City Council after they heard the staff report, applauding them for their success to date in reducing spills, which pollute creeks and beaches, threaten public health, and harm aquatic life.
Channelkeeper filed suit against the City in 2011 for violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to its inordinately high rate of sewage spills after a decade of advocacy yielded little progress. Channelkeeper and the City signed a settlement agreement in 2012 which required the City to significantly increase its level of effort and funding to repair and replace leaking sewer pipes and progressively reduce sewage spills. They agreed to extend the settlement for an additional three years in 2016 due to insufficient results, and Channelkeeper hired an expert to help the City design a more effective sewer system management program.
As a result, the City has invested an additional $20 million since 2012 to improve its spill response and reporting protocols, enhance sewer pipe inspection and cleaning efforts, and repair or replace 38 miles of sewer pipe (equivalent to 15 percent of its entire 257 miles of sewer mains), including 10 miles of pipes that were identified as having a high risk of leaking to storm drains, creeks and the ocean. This represents an average of 5 miles of sewer pipe repaired or replaced each year since the settlement was signed, or twice as much as the City would have fixed absent the legal agreement.
That investment has paid off in spades, says Redmond, with the City achieving a spill rate of only 2.7 per 100 miles of sewer pipe – well below the California average. “Channelkeeper is pleased with the progress the City has made in improving the performance of its sewer system and reducing sewage spills, which translates directly into less pollution in our creeks, beaches and ocean. We recognize that litigation isn’t the most agreeable way to get things done, but on occasion it’s necessary, and in this case it’s been extremely effective and yielded significant, tangible improvements that benefit our environment and our community.”
In her testimony, Redmond urged the City Council to continue its investment and progress in reducing sewage spills beyond 2020, when Channelkeeper’s settlement agreement with the City terminates.
That is unfortunate, but it is not abnormal for the wye and lateral to be the responsibility of the property owner. If this responsibility switched recently, sounds like residents of SB missed a very important city council meeting. Too late to appeal? This will affect a lot of people in a big way, laterals can be very expensive.
ICRE84U How pathetic that The City had to be sued in the first place in order to be forced to do the right thing.
We’ve been through it. You’re right. It’s a lot of worrying and heartache. Too bad The City of Santa Barbara didn’t do the work. It never made sense to me: we had to dig where it was all City property. And pay for everything, too.
How much are their city mandated sewer projects costing each property owners – please can you share so the rest of us can plan ahead? Thanks.
That’s really great, sounds like a lot of teamwork between entities for the greater good
Yet Channel Keepers ignores 365 days a year vagrancy camp sewage spills, along all our city creeks and streams.
If that is your issue, you can bring it up to the City Council yourself. Using What-About-Isms to divert attention away from the topic at hand is a poor strategy. I’m sure ChannelKeepers is concerned about all kinds of pollution but this was an easy although expensive fix to start with. The homeless problem in the US? Not so easy.
As a supporter of CK, I was disappointed when they sued. I guess I’ll change my mind now. I don’t mind increases in utility fees if they benefit our health and planet.
The new poly sewer lines that are done via a trench-less technique will never crack, leak or be invaded by roots. They are not cheap, but they are a one time expense that every property built before 1990 (est) will have to deal with at some point. Just chalk it up as another cost of ownership. Sure its a big bite but its a better than dealing with a new septic system every decade or two.
That would require the city council to use logic, reason and long-term thinking.