Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
Designated as a “Wild and Scenic River,” the South Yuba is one of the great natural resources in California.
But the Donner Summit Public Utilities District (DSPUD) treats it like their own sewer line by discharging enormous quantities of treated effluent into the Yuba’s headwaters 10 months of the year. This poses an on-going and dangerous threat to human health and the river’s aquatic life.
Here are the facts (according to the Nevada County Civil Grand Jury report and on-line research):
• DSPUD discharges an average low of 520,000 gallons of wastewater (treated sewage) into the Yuba every day from October through July, with an average high of 1,040,000 gallons per day. To give you an idea of how much wastewater a half
million gallons represents, imagine 25 average swimming pools of effluent poured into the river’s headwaters everyday.
• During August and September, DSPUD is barred from discharging into the Yuba, so the treated sewage water is sprayed on the slopes of the nearby ski resorts.
• The optimum dilution ratio of native water to treated wastewater should be 20:1. During drier years (like now), low flow conditions can occur, which can impact the dilution ratios. During November, December and January when the population of the Donner Summit area peaks and wastewater levels rise, the average minimum flow of native water in the river at the point of DSPUD’s discharge is barely above one cubic foot per second. Instead of the mandated ratio of 20:1, roughly half the river’s average flow is comprised of effluent.
• The Grand Jury report, which stated that DSPUD’s discharges “pose a threat to the beneficial use of the river.” Now, DSPUD is seeking to expand their operations to accommodate Foster Enterprises’ proposed Royal Gorge project, a planned 950-unit development. The Royal Gorge project manager said he was not aware that DSPUD discharges effluent into the Yuba.
• On September 30, the South Yuba River Citizen’s League (SYRCL) submitted a report to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWB), which documents DSPUD’s repeated violations and on-going noncompliance with the agency’s mandated requirements for wastewater disposal.
The in-depth report reveals DSPUD’s effluent “has exceeded limits for turbidity, suspended solids, chlorine and coliform organisms. Some of these violations have likely had significant impacts on aquatic life in the South Yuba River, and pose a risk to human health. Despite a five-year period to comply with nitrate and ammonia requirements, the level of nitrates in DSPUD’s effluent has not improved.” (Read the full report at www.yubariver.net/content/protect-yuba-headwaters.)
So what can be done?
First, DSPUD needs to add a UV disinfectant system to the wastewater treatment process and install a stream gage at the discharge location to better monitor its discharges.
Second, California must require that DSPUD construct a land-based, subsurface wastewater disposal site. It is the only viable long-term solution. It will take time to build these leach fields, so work needs to begin now.
This is not an isolated problem.
The Yuba’s headwaters flow into Lake Spaulding, which feeds into the Bear River, Lake Rollins and beyond, affecting communities down the line that purchase water from the Nevada Irrigation District.
In contrast to the situation with DSPUD, the Truckee-Donner PUD is not allowed to dispose of their treated wastewater into the Truckee River. Instead, the state required that they construct a leach field, quite a distance from the river, for their gray water disposal.
I only wish officials were as concerned about the South Yuba River as they seem to be about the Truckee.
Make a difference. File a Grand Jury complaint form, contact the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Region), and participate in Sierra Watch and SYRCL efforts to keep the Yuba clean.
John Leonard lives in Grass Valley.
But the Donner Summit Public Utilities District (DSPUD) treats it like their own sewer line by discharging enormous quantities of treated effluent into the Yuba’s headwaters 10 months of the year. This poses an on-going and dangerous threat to human health and the river’s aquatic life.
Here are the facts (according to the Nevada County Civil Grand Jury report and on-line research):
• DSPUD discharges an average low of 520,000 gallons of wastewater (treated sewage) into the Yuba every day from October through July, with an average high of 1,040,000 gallons per day. To give you an idea of how much wastewater a half
million gallons represents, imagine 25 average swimming pools of effluent poured into the river’s headwaters everyday.
• During August and September, DSPUD is barred from discharging into the Yuba, so the treated sewage water is sprayed on the slopes of the nearby ski resorts.
• The optimum dilution ratio of native water to treated wastewater should be 20:1. During drier years (like now), low flow conditions can occur, which can impact the dilution ratios. During November, December and January when the population of the Donner Summit area peaks and wastewater levels rise, the average minimum flow of native water in the river at the point of DSPUD’s discharge is barely above one cubic foot per second. Instead of the mandated ratio of 20:1, roughly half the river’s average flow is comprised of effluent.
• The Grand Jury report, which stated that DSPUD’s discharges “pose a threat to the beneficial use of the river.” Now, DSPUD is seeking to expand their operations to accommodate Foster Enterprises’ proposed Royal Gorge project, a planned 950-unit development. The Royal Gorge project manager said he was not aware that DSPUD discharges effluent into the Yuba.
• On September 30, the South Yuba River Citizen’s League (SYRCL) submitted a report to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWB), which documents DSPUD’s repeated violations and on-going noncompliance with the agency’s mandated requirements for wastewater disposal.
The in-depth report reveals DSPUD’s effluent “has exceeded limits for turbidity, suspended solids, chlorine and coliform organisms. Some of these violations have likely had significant impacts on aquatic life in the South Yuba River, and pose a risk to human health. Despite a five-year period to comply with nitrate and ammonia requirements, the level of nitrates in DSPUD’s effluent has not improved.” (Read the full report at www.yubariver.net/content/protect-yuba-headwaters.)
So what can be done?
First, DSPUD needs to add a UV disinfectant system to the wastewater treatment process and install a stream gage at the discharge location to better monitor its discharges.
Second, California must require that DSPUD construct a land-based, subsurface wastewater disposal site. It is the only viable long-term solution. It will take time to build these leach fields, so work needs to begin now.
This is not an isolated problem.
The Yuba’s headwaters flow into Lake Spaulding, which feeds into the Bear River, Lake Rollins and beyond, affecting communities down the line that purchase water from the Nevada Irrigation District.
In contrast to the situation with DSPUD, the Truckee-Donner PUD is not allowed to dispose of their treated wastewater into the Truckee River. Instead, the state required that they construct a leach field, quite a distance from the river, for their gray water disposal.
I only wish officials were as concerned about the South Yuba River as they seem to be about the Truckee.
Make a difference. File a Grand Jury complaint form, contact the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Region), and participate in Sierra Watch and SYRCL efforts to keep the Yuba clean.
John Leonard lives in Grass Valley.
