The Lakes Water System (LWS) has a long history. It currently provides water to approximately 850 customers who live in Green Valley, parts of Cordelia, parts of Willotta Oaks, and Gordon Valley.
The City of Vallejo owns and operates the Lakes Water System as part of the services provided by the City of Vallejo Water Department. This system was created from the Division Dam in the early 1890s, with the Lakes Frey and Madigan reservoirs added in 1914. Originally, these reservoirs provided water to residents of Vallejo, Green Valley and the surrounding rural areas.
Beginning in the early 1950’s the City of Vallejo began to get its water from the Sacramento Delta and the newly constructed Monticello Dam/Lake Berryessa project. Thus, it eventually stopped accessing water from the Lakes Water System for its urban City of Vallejo customers.
In 1992, Vallejo closed the valve on one of its major lake delivery systems and passed an ordinance making the LWS a distinct water system, shifting all of the cost of operations to the LWS customers.
At that time, and continuing today, the LWS is served by the Green Valley Water Treatment Plant which produces up to one million gallons of drinking water per day. It utilizes a highly specialized and refined treatment process to meet the regulatory water quality regulations necessary to treat the highly mineralized source water from Lakes Madigan and Frey.
As water rates increased to cover the costs of maintenance of the aging infrastructure and to adhere to rigorous State and Federal regulations over the intervening years, GVLA filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Vallejo in 2013. For technical legal issues, the lawsuit was not successful.
At that point, GVLA shifted its strategy to work with Vallejo Water to identify and develop rational, long-term, and cost-effective strategies for maintaining and improving the system, and thereby improving affordability of the water as well as the supply for fire flow.
In April 2017, in order to focus more specifically on water-related policies, operations, and strategic opportunities, the City of Vallejo re-organized its water-related operations and created a stand-alone Water Department. A new Director was hired and he quickly espoused his commitment to community engagement and collaborative problem-solving.
As of December 2020, we are pleased to report that progress is being made on several fronts.
Beginning in 2017, a Due Diligence Agreement between Vallejo and Solano County focused their staffs on gathering related LWS data that was essential to problem solving. Then, in early 2019, with the participation and support of GVLA, Solano County and the City of Vallejo agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the purposes of collaborative problem-solving to deal with the issues for the LWS and its customers.
In the MOU, the “parties agree to work together to evaluate opportunities and options that would facilitate improvements and continue safe and sustainable operation of the Lakes Water System in unincorporated Solano County, with a focus on:
Ensuring adequate domestic water availability to all existing customers
Looking for opportunities to expand the customer base while staying within County General Plan growth limits
Providing rate stability for existing customers
Identifying and facilitating cost-effective upgrades to infrastructure
Identifying available financial options that may offset costs of upgrades to the system
Maintaining a regional water distribution system consistent with the Solano County General Plan
Identifying opportunities to address the challenges of multiple domestic water systems serving the area currently in or adjacent to the Lakes Water System service area
Identifying options and opportunities for addressing the multiple domestic water systems that currently exist or are in the vicinity of the Lakes Water Service area including possible creation of a consolidated service entity und the City of Vallejo Water Department.”
Thus, while obstacles and concerns still need to be addressed, we are hopeful as the governmental agencies are working together with the interests of the LWS users top of mind. The MOU provides a basis for significant and meaningful discussions about the future of the Lakes Water System and ways to make the costs sustainable in the long term for customers.
In 2018 the City created a Citizen Water Rate Working Group to support the rates planning process for Vallejo and the LWS. Two resident customers of the LWS were selected to serve on the 2018 Citizen Water Rate Working Group. Based on rigorous financial analysis, the Water Department recommended, and the City Council concurred, that an update of the LWS rates would be inappropriate until the work of the MOU was complete. The LWS members of the Citizen Water Rate Working Group were able to offer important contributions to the Vallejo rate-setting and throughout the process, the Water Director consistently affirmed that the Lakes Water System was a vital part of the City of Vallejo’s drinking water operation.
Most recently, GVLA has been supportive of a Joint Exercise Powers Authority (JEPA) agreement negotiated between the City of Vallejo and Solano County. This agreement will add customers to the LWS customer base and, it is hoped will allow for new investment in infrastructure improvements to support system reliability. The JEPA was approved by the City Council of Vallejo on December 8, 2020 and the Solano County Board of Supervisors on December 15, 2020.
GVLA has brought our knowledge of the LWS system to the table and we continue to advocate in all forums for solutions that are in the best interests of the LWS customers. We will keep you informed on further progress.
Thank you for all your support as we continue this effort on behalf of the LWS users!
>>> To be apprised of updates and urgent alerts, LWS customers can subscribe to the Lakes Water System email list for updates & info at https://cityofvallejo.formstack.com/forms/signup