Escondido council adopts updated sewer system management plan to meet state order

The Escondido City Council on Aug. 28 adopted an updated Sewer System Management Plan, voting 5-0 to approve a resolution implementing changes required by the State Water Resources Control Board.

The plan update, presented by Kyle Morgan, interim director of utilities, implements requirements from a Dec. 6, 2022, State Water Resources Control Board general waste discharge order that gave agencies three years to update SSMPs. The updated plan formalizes auditing and reporting practices, requires periodic staff training and establishes a digital mapping submission to the state's portal, with limited public access to protect critical infrastructure.

Why it matters: The SSMP sets the city's procedures for preventing and responding to sewer spills, including emergency response, inspection and prioritization of high-risk areas. Councilmembers said they welcomed the transparency and asked staff about funding and public notification systems for climate-related events.

Morgan told the council that the document is a planning and compliance tool and that the update carries no direct new capital cost to the city; a consultant was used to prepare the plan and that cost was budgeted as part of ordinary operations. The plan requires audits every three years and council review and approval every six years.

The plan addresses climate and system resiliency for the city's 380 miles of sewer pipeline and 11 lift stations and revises spill-estimation and reporting protocols. Morgan said an electronic city-boundary map with wastewater infrastructure will be submitted to the state's online portal and that a limited version of the map will be made available to the public with protections for security-sensitive details.

Councilmembers asked whether the plan ties into the city's broader emergency-notification and flood-response systems. Morgan said the SSMP governs wastewater operations and response; broader flood and emergency management matters are handled through the city's emergency management plans and other departments.

The council adopted the resolution approving the SSMP by a unanimous 5-0 vote. Morgan said the adopted SSMP will be posted to the city's website and staff will implement the Year 1 actions, including staff training and mapping upload.

Questions remain about how the city will present climate-related operational alerts to residents; council members asked staff to look into public-facing notification platforms for incidents tied to storms and other emergencies.

The vote concludes the council's review and brings the SSMP into formal city policy and ongoing compliance with the state order.