[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6509804,"mediaKeyId","5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b","parentId",5419637,"title","Manager's report: personnel moves, desal pump failure and a monitoring lapse flagged; staff launch job-shadowing pilot","audioSeconds",617,"startMs",4083000,"endMs",4700000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b&start=4083&end=4700","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b/thumbnail_4083000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6509804/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Managers-report-personnel-moves-desal-pump-failure-and-a-monitoring-lapse-flagged-staff-launch-job-shadowing-pilot","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6509804-fcbc40114ea6cc6d427a67c03328927a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145817&Signature=HWtMI~JO~e2k5evEkSy-iyNsdbY7N0m7pxVPaCtkAgiHWwdyfhUuQIqewvVZXH4S-rIFTk2EAbDUQdhmV2CdN6uWZfSsiR3WT5B~-dsvZR75UpEW-kbhEW~Tbh0mY8wa9erCp0H74bd9KHxocQtL6~v7B3a64Ng1lMGewfEjx-vN-ojROm3nQtdbcVUm~SYG2ltOwOvFgIczH7ebBiUz6WCkXhqvYVQwE~Dw~7O3jrZVjjy9-v7ubF~UwWo90mMXEqYvUksVMQKOz7blnsGL8unSka2l1K5b7X-dWr7fPUI4oUOfB3pPsvAoeAHmrKa50Esyi9J5mlLlTdIyOpDoOw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Santa Barbara, CA","date","2025-07-17T18:08:24.377Z","article","City water management staff briefed the commission July 17 on personnel changes, a recent desalination pump failure and a monitoring violation at a treatment plant.

Acting in the presentation, staff said as of the prior Monday Mr. Hagmark is the acting public works director and Dakota Corey will begin as acting Water Resources Manager on the following Monday; Dana Hoffenberger will act as water supply and service manager while the city recruits for the water supply and services superintendent position. The manager noted continuing recruitment pressure in distribution and operations and said human-resources work and labor negotiations are in progress to stabilize compensation cycles.

On desalination operations, staff reported a new pump installed by a barge failed after nine days of operation. \"We have 1 pump offshore. So we are running, but we will need the barge to return to pull the new pump and determine the failure,\" the manager said. Staff characterized the plant as operational on reduced capacity while the cause is investigated.

Staff also reported a monitoring violation: an oil-and-grease analysis (an infrequent six-day sample) was collected but not analyzed due to lab turnover and short staffing. Staff said all other samples for the month were in compliance and that oil-and-grease exceedances have not been an ongoing operational concern, but the missed analysis is recorded as a monitoring violation.

To boost cross-team understanding and morale, staff described a pilot job-shadowing program that will have cohorts of employees spend a half day with another work group once a quarter; staff said nearly 40 employees are participating in the pilot. The manager said the city also closed the fiscal year with revenues generally on target and that the recent rate increase will begin appearing on bills in August.

There was no public comment on the manager’s report and no formal action by the commission on these informational items.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Water Commission - July 17, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Water Resources manager reported personnel changes, a failed desalination pump requiring further work, a monitoring violation for an un-analyzed oil-and-grease sample, and a new job-shadowing program to improve cross-team familiarity and morale.","taxTitle","Santa Barbara City, Santa Barbara County, California","taxId",4209,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6509807,"Water Commission endorses city response to Santa Barbara County Grand Jury report, clarifies desal expansion is not in progress",459,3632000,4091000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b&start=3632&end=4091","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b/thumbnail_3632000.jpg","/articles/6509807/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Water-Commission-endorses-city-response-to-Santa-Barbara-County-Grand-Jury-report-clarifies-desal-expansion-is-not-in-progress","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6509807-0fb65b55ae57dc9313cc591322e7a72c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145817&Signature=ItTQFXnsmANJ3BYRCFUuljU5b7dMRW~9-WSzl5sH5JecqjX0SYqjtTacci3B0PpjbJbPmAcfnRNQLRNEs07vADcJ2oyo9svPYYglYoYFbN~1SUBP3eIoLxc0~0fwhTTzZjJzC~16xHJBXOAeviHI3UEKn~GYUTw3vGO0msM2bTJVULVxg~lrWArKEPwsHkxc3FHwuwvCgYe30ku6EUcA6UMEu~MY8e39YZJPS9EwxIzUUI1OM~vZ14kIpGbQjjzI4viTYSzstdSXFZATm5tzNTy09pTPdzp7SFCuWFj90LJoLxrn69RiHj3W1rfEqzgHiBtRhWkoeXYWTQ-AwSDd-Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Water Commission voted July 17 to recommend the City Council adopt the city’s formal response to the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury report titled \"Water Management in Santa Barbara County: Keep Up the Good Work,\" and to authorize the mayor to sign the response letter to the presiding judge.

Jasmine Showers, water resources analyst, summarized the grand jury’s findings. The report, released June 13, 2025, found that county water providers had made proactive plans to fortify supplies against drought and that coordination among agencies has improved since prior grand jury findings. The report included three findings and no recommendations; the City is required by law to respond to findings affecting the city.

Showers read the proposed city responses. For the finding that the city has invested in a diverse water-supply portfolio, staff proposed agreement and emphasized the need to \"keep up the good work,\" noting continued priorities including conservation, capital investment and recruiting and retaining staff to implement projects. For the finding praising improved county coordination, staff proposed agreement and a continuing commitment to interagency cooperation. For the city-specific finding recognizing innovative use of desalination to expand local water availability, staff proposed agreement but clarified that desalination expansion is not in progress: the 2020 Enhanced Urban Water Management Plan contains demand triggers for desalination and those triggers have not been met, and the commission or council has not directed an expansion.

Showers also noted the city currently stores a substantial supply in Lake Cachuma (staff cited more than 14,000 acre-feet including allocation and carryover) and that the city’s planning documents guide when desalination would be initiated.

The commission moved to recommend that City Council adopt the response letter and authorize the mayor to sign. The motion passed on a roll call with recorded affirmative votes from Commissioner Davis, Commissioner Cooney, Vice Chair Keller and Chair Snyder.

Commissioners congratulated staff and noted the report’s unusually positive tone compared with prior grand jury critiques; one commissioner suggested adding an explicit line in the official response emphasizing the importance of recruiting and retaining staff. There was no public comment.","The commission recommended the mayor send a letter to the presiding judge accepting the grand jury's largely positive findings and noted that desalination expansion is not currently underway and would require demand triggers and further council direction.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6509812,"Water resources staff present 2024 Consumer Confidence Report and Public Health Goals review; city says drinking water meets regulatory limits",1553,2022000,3575000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b&start=2022&end=3575","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b/thumbnail_2022000.jpg","/articles/6509812/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Water-resources-staff-present-2024-Consumer-Confidence-Report-and-Public-Health-Goals-review-city-says-drinking-water-meets-regulatory-limits","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6509812-2df84fbfecf52c98cdb1d7f4d99e137b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145817&Signature=GwsmLvyJ~p4JFWRxx4PVWYuogHrKuqBIzTyMvyYCQqD3nFyjGb9ii2mo-3R3zQZAYESOjsdKPEgNTF6zHZeWY21WLpSpFG0F7Nsb7fg1WAbVw9PWyxcvgYg8ILzPVVec8qzYgqHnzodBUEzryf0~WpA-DrMU3b5YVKdwoRgXEBKcbh~~Avsn4BhulVVn8YxnnoV973zFnR6xmzuE-ILfdeq9T2YmEvuINN2Rxs2EVfrGJmxibyo3gEvdh3TWtaD-HvOERLR7FdX2octYZdnVG01InBD5EY1JdVzGkQXL2gVnukgCT2l3zT1z-AhqNMXhQkTGu50attvOoFMW2ILIvg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City of Santa Barbara Water Resources staff presented the 2024 Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) and the related Public Health Goals (PHG) report to the Water Commission on July 17, describing lab operations, testing volume, and key results from calendar year 2024.

Galen Fair, the city’s Water Quality Superintendent, said the CCR — a Division of Drinking Water regulatory requirement covering calendar year 2024 — was mailed to customers by the July 1 deadline. Fair said the report lists only detected parameters and compares measured results to regulatory benchmarks such as maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) and public health goals established by CalEPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

Fair summarized laboratory capacity and 2024 testing work: the Water Resources Laboratory is staffed 7.5 full-time equivalents (with two hourlies and two additional full-time hires expected this year), collected about 12,000 samples, ran roughly 36,000 analyses and about 11,000 quality-control tests in 2024. He said about 97% of tests were performed in-house and the lab is ELAP-certified for 47 test methods under the new environmental laboratory accreditation rules.

On water-quality findings, Fair said the city’s drinking water met all MCLs in 2024 and reiterated: \"The city's drinking water meets and exceeds all regulatory limits below the MCLs. The city water is safe to drink.\" He noted a small number of parameters exceeded non-enforceable public health goals, specifically bromate (a disinfection byproduct at the Cater treatment plant where ozone is used), lead and copper (from plumbing corrosion detected via household sampling under the lead-and-copper rule), and certain naturally occurring radiologicals detected in desalinated water. Fair said removing bromate or radiologicals to PHG levels would require reverse osmosis at treatment plants and that the estimated household cost for removing bromate to PHG via RO at Cater would be about $3,400 per year per household; for lead, Fair said the city already uses corrosion-control optimization, so additional cost was listed as negligible.

Fair also described the federal unregulated contaminant monitoring rule (UCMR) rounds and how only detected contaminants must be reported in the CCR. He said UCMR-5 testing found no PFAS detections that required reporting on the CCR chart for 2024.

Commissioners praised the laboratory’s work and its ELAP certification. There was no public comment and no commission vote required on the CCR or PHG report.","Water Resources staff reviewed the city’s 2024 Consumer Confidence Report and the triennial Public Health Goals report, concluding Santa Barbara’s drinking water meets all maximum contaminant levels and noting a handful of parameters above non-enforceable public health goals.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6509818,"Santa Barbara water staff update sewer system management plan; commission backs forwarding to council",1543,447000,1990000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b&start=447&end=1990","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5419637-367c15a9e5f7d70a087135d53436429b/thumbnail_447000.jpg","/articles/6509818/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Santa-Barbara-water-staff-update-sewer-system-management-plan-commission-backs-forwarding-to-council","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6509818-1b9eb391c48f37e9746800e74ac91a6f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145817&Signature=ULwxvEG5VYzu4ZEWe5ce0mZQ~lCSRjjCNa~MnICrXX30L9j9GyQgHjNt0m3kA~W8QouISBqY7wPq1BZFFuZFHmMDOnEunbRUj1KHmioqQb8cdaSuHPi-5PUljip1D-e8NpX5wJTmIMSIZoeUdjp1wfd-1CLaOqJcCmIfDitkGkqC000WnsIpbScQ7aCaXqsEIT0WOljbCIPVGxObQGQ5i4gyFSZC1iFuA-GPoZbmEdUgKzBenoTtMdnhfOWrXUwY~Yreh8gLf0FTc1kVCnUOPQz28ezVRCp5ZShMzu8kbFMrA2YI2EbnFJlVHp02IOFLH3GgJ5DsXRFlHbZQqlqz9g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Santa Barbara City Water Commission voted July 17 to recommend the City Council approve an updated Sewer System Management Plan that the city must submit to the Central Coast Water Board to meet a new state general order.

The recommendation comes after a staff presentation explaining that the State Water Resources Control Board’s updated Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) for sanitary sewer systems — issued in December 2022 and effective June 2023 — requires more documentation, enhanced capacity planning and new audit and update schedules. Thomas Welch, the city’s wastewater system manager, told the commission the city’s internal audit was due in February 2025 and the revised plan must be submitted to the state by Aug. 2, 2025. Welch said staff will present the plan to City Council on July 29.

The plan update incorporates consultant recommendations, new documentation, and operational changes designed to reduce sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). Welch said the city hired HDR Inc. to perform the internal audit covering Aug. 2021–Aug. 2024 and that the firm identified deficiencies and opportunities for optimization. He credited the collections crew for a revised cleaning strategy and said the updated plan documents that work.

Rob Johns, planner-scheduler for collections, described changes in spill categories and response: \"The new WDR ... created a new category for spills less than 50 gallons that were recovered,\" and, of the nine spills in the most recent fiscal year, four were fully recovered at under 50 gallons. Johns also said crews and new monitoring technology helped capture blockages before they spilled: \"we have over 50 smart covers in the system now\" that detect high levels in manholes.

Staff described a shift from citywide, scattered cleaning to a basin-based cleaning approach. Welch said crews now clean by watershed-like basins so teams work in one area at a time, reducing travel time and the risk of moving debris between mains. The city also increased cleaning frequency for some mains; Welch said mains previously cleaned every three years are now on an annual schedule where appropriate, and the city is working to eliminate very-high-frequency short-cycle cleanings.

Audit results and metrics were discussed in context. During the audit period the city reported 30 spills, 10 of which reached receiving waters; staff said the city’s volume of sewage reaching receiving waters was about 14,000 gallons per 100 miles for the audit period, compared with a regional average of about 95,000 gallons per 100 miles. Welch noted topography and rapid flow in Santa Barbara complicate spill response but praised crews for fast recovery and mitigation.

On compliance findings, HDR identified one category A noncompliance related to air-valve mapping; after review staff determined the city has no air valves on its force mains, explaining the apparent gap. HDR also noted multiple minor nonconformances, including one to post the SSMP in a clearly public location with explicit contact information; staff said they added that contact information to the posted plan. Welch said many findings were documentation-level and that the city had implemented many operational changes earlier under a prior consent decree; the current work focuses on documenting procedures to meet the new WDR’s detail requirements.

Commission action: A motion to \"recommend\" the SSMP update to City Council passed on a roll call vote with recorded affirmative votes from Commissioner Davis, Commissioner Cooney, Vice Chair Keller and Chair Snyder.

The commission’s endorsement is a required step before the city submits the updated plan to the state by the August deadline.","The Water Commission voted to recommend that City Council approve an updated Sewer System Management Plan that reflects a 2023 state general order, new audit schedules and operational changes intended to reduce sanitary sewer overflows.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Manager's report: personnel moves, desal pump failure and a monitoring lapse flagged; staff launch job-shadowing pilot

Water Commission endorses city response to Santa Barbara County Grand Jury report, clarifies desal expansion is not in progress

Water resources staff present 2024 Consumer Confidence Report and Public Health Goals review; city says drinking water meets regulatory limits

Santa Barbara water staff update sewer system management plan; commission backs forwarding to council