The Montecito Water District is set to be drought-proof by the summer, the district announced Monday.
The progress is due to desalination and new rates, which the district’s board of directors received a status report on as well as a water supply agreement with the city of Santa Barbara during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the City of Escondido’s Water Quality Laboratory to rethink its lab operations without compromising community health or employee wellbeing while ensuring the clean, safe, and efficient operation of the city. Through teamwork and creative thinking, the lab found success in maintaining its essential work.
“Whether we have a pandemic or not, people still want to open their taps and have clean drinking water,” said Ralph Ginese, supervising chemist with the City of Escondido.
Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility Laboratory Superintendent Nicki Branch says employee safety was addressed first.
“We immediately enforced the six-foot social distancing requirement and frequent handwashing,” said Branch. “The facility cleaning staff increased disinfection wipedown of all surfaces. We stopped having group staff and safety meetings by switching to online. We have changed our work schedule, essentially cutting it in half on a rotating schedule and allowing all employees to be able to telecommute from home periodically.”
The 14 employees have been provided additional personal protective equipment including facemasks.
“Staff is able to do administrative work, lab paperwork, study for exams, safety training, research on the industry and attend webinars,” said Branch.
Half of the staff members remain at the lab facility full-time, where they conduct analyses to verify the quality of wastewater treatment processes to safeguard community health, as well as required monthly and quarterly testing.
As part of ongoing monitoring at the Escondido Water Quality Lab, Associate Chemist Sarah Shapard performs tests analyzing for ammonia. Photo: City of Escondido
Recent heavy rains in Escondido complicated the testing process. Branch said several lab staff were placed on call in the event additional testing was needed due to a possible emergency-permitted tertiary discharge to nearby Escondido Creek due to high flows after five days of rain.
“They were all game to come in if needed on a Saturday to assist, but fortunately the operations staff worked miracles to keep us from discharging,” said Branch. “Heavy rains also caused a situation where additional sampling of lakes for drinking water analysis occurred, and the lab staff responded immediately to help the drinking water division with sampling and analysis.”
The Escondido lab routinely tests six sample sites along the outfall line.
“It’s a full-blown scan, so getting samples to contact labs would have been a real challenge,” said Ginese, crediting the work of the city’s operations staff to prevent any discharge into the creek.
“I am so proud of all the staff at the HARRF Laboratory for responding to this Covid -19 pandemic in a professional manner, adapting quickly to our City policies requiring social distancing, and for offering to come in on emergency situations when needed,” said Branch.
The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies have increased regional coordination and communication to ensure the coronavirus pandemic does not impact safe and secure water service for San Diego County.
The San Diego County Water Authority is making progress on the construction of a new 5 million gallon underground reservoir in Mission Trails Regional Park. The underground reservoir is also known as a flow regulatory structure.
Classified as a “critical or essential” infrastructure project during the COVID-19 response, the project is moving forward to stay on schedule.
Name: Austin Casey
Job: San Diego County Water Authority system operator
Family: Wife, Mina; three children
Task during the pandemic: “As systems operators we are here to ensure the aqueduct system keeps water flowing safely and reliably throughout San Diego County. We maintain our daily tasks of operating, water quality sampling, and station checks to ensure all equipment is functioning properly. During the pandemic, we have been reminded of how critical it is to be efficient and effective with our normal duties, so we are ready to take on unforeseen challenges.”
How has pandemic changed the job? “I feel our job is the same during the pandemic. It’s more of adjusting to a new normal and being able to staff the department in a way where everyone feels safe.”
How are you keeping safe? “We say the control room and surrounding office has never looked so clean because of all the sanitizing we are doing. We are also getting used to social distancing and being aware of personal space, because we do work in close quarters. Hand washing and sanitizing all our office equipment, field instruments and trucks has been key to staying healthy.”
“The role we play as critical infrastructure operators may go unseen to many, but we are here to ensure the public receives a safe, secure, reliable supply of water without having to worry about it at all.”
San Diego County Water Authority System Operator Austin Casey is one of the essential workers keeping the region’s water supply safe, reliable and plentiful. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
The Union-Tribune wants to recognize workers who are still on the job serving the public during the coronavirus crisis.
The San Diego County Water Authority is making progress on the construction of a new 5 million gallon underground reservoir in Mission Trails Regional Park. The underground reservoir is also known as a flow regulatory structure.
Classified as a “critical or essential” infrastructure project during the COVID-19 response, the project is moving forward to stay on schedule. Water Authority and contractor staff are taking heath protection precautions to maintain public safety by following COVID-19 safety guidelines, including wearing face masks, using hand sanitizers, and disinfecting fencing, work tools and equipment.
Recent work includes the installation of temporary office trailers at the east end of Clairemont Mesa Drive in the City of San Diego, delivery of materials, installation of eight-foot fencing around the major construction sites and placement of silt fencing around environmentally sensitive areas.
Topsoil is being removed and saved where digging is planned. This topsoil will be placed back in its original location after construction is done to encourage plant re-growth, help hold water and prevent soil erosion. Construction crews are working Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Some trails in the western portion of the park are closed to ensure the safety of the public and essential workers on site. Several trail closure signs with maps have been strategically placed to help park users navigate the trails and take detours to avoid the construction area.
The project is in the western part of Mission Trails Regional Park near the Tierrasanta community. It includes building the new underground covered reservoir, a flow control facility and pipeline interconnections to upgrade the system that delivers water to treatment plants serving the central and southern areas of San Diego County. The project is anticipated to be complete in early 2022.
City of Escondido Water Quality Lab Associate Chemist Oyuna Jenkins has been named “Laboratory Person of the Year” by the California Water Environment Association for 2019-20.
Supervising Chemist Ralph Ginese nominated Jenkins for the award, calling her “an incredible asset” during her seven years working at the lab. “The lab technically could not function without Oyuna,” wrote Ginese.
“This is really teamwork,” said Oyuna Jenkins of her recognition. “I have to give credit to everyone in the lab. We work really hard. Whoever you call a hero, there are always people behind them.”
With many people working during the pandemic, a North County group gathered to thank farmworkers by having a “Caravan of Appreciation.”
Those who joined in the car parade want to remind people farmworkers are still out in the fields maintaining the region’s food supply during COVID-19.
“We want to bring light to the importance of their labor and the essential nature of their labor,” said Maria Figueroa, a volunteer with FarmWorker CARE Coalition.
City of Escondido Water Quality Lab Associate Chemist Oyuna Jenkins has been named “Laboratory Person of the Year” by the California Water Environment Association for 2019-20.
Supervising Chemist Ralph Ginese nominated Jenkins for the award, calling her “an incredible asset” during her seven years working at the lab. “The lab technically could not function without Oyuna,” wrote Ginese.
“This is really teamwork,” said Oyuna Jenkins of her recognition. “I have to give credit to everyone in the lab. We work really hard. Whoever you call a hero, there are always people behind them.
“It’s all about public health. I feel like it’s making a difference, providing accurate information to the public as possible. It’s all coordination between distribution, collection, public works, and everyone involved.”
Jenkins plays a key role in the lab’s safety processes, which ensures a safe, reliable water supply for City of Escondido customers. She runs metal analyses on drinking water, industrial waste, and every step of the wastewater treatment process. Jenkins also peforms required monthly and quarterly testing and cross-trains colleagues on testing procedures. In addition, she is the laboratory’s liaison to contract labs.
“She’s very analytical,” said Ginese. “She’s someone we can go to, brainstorm, and work together. She is not afraid when people question her data. She is secure in what she does.”
Oyuna Jenkins (fifth from left) and the 14 person Escondido Water Quality Lab team, one of only two certified labs in California under new water quality standards. Photo: City of Escondido
A native of Mongolia, Oyuna Jenkins earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, which is among the top 15% of all programs worldwide. She immigrated to the United States in 1998. Jenkins continues to pursue advanced training. She first obtained CWEA certification in 2012 and completed the Water and Wastewater Certification program at Palomar College in 2016.
“Oyuna has worked tremendously hard to be where she is at today,” wrote Ginese in his award nomination. “She is grateful for the opportunity this country gives her and she shares that gratitude with those around her … She is what every supervisor/manager is looking for in a Laboratory Person of the Year Award.”
Jenkins helped develop strategies to implement new techniques and processes supporting the implementation of strict new accreditation standards for California’s 600 certified water quality testing labs.
As reported earlier this year on Water News Network, the City of Escondido Water Quality Lab successfully adopted the anticipated regulations in advance of their formal implementation. Jenkins reviewed and wrote many of the lab’s new Standard Operating Procedures now being used. She also assisted in developing the facility’s annual goals, along with its new mission and value statements.
The ambitious approach to Environmental Lab Accreditation Program compliance under the more stringent quality control processes places Escondido in a leadership role as one of only two California labs already compliant with the new regulations.
Sanitation experts have determined that existing treatment plant disinfection processes successfully disinfect wastewater containing the COVID-19 virus.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants in California go beyond minimum requirements and provide additional tertiary filtration treatment to meet stringent State Water Board public health standards for water disposal or water recycling whenever there is a risk to the public.
The State and Regional Water Boards establish and enforce stringent municipal wastewater treatment and water recycling standards in order to protect drinking water sources including surface and ground water bodies. Wastewater treatment is an essential function, and this work continues during the COVID-19 emergency.
Among the many disruptions to working life wrought by the spread of coronavirus has been the outsized pressure put on the world’s essential services. For those ensuring that Americans continue to enjoy clean water in their homes, that has meant living at their places of work.
Across the country, drinking water utility workers have been sleeping at treatment facilities to minimize their exposure to COVID-19 and maintain services as many other Americans self-isolate in their homes.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
