Pipes -- the Issue

By Marcia A. Johnson

Protecting the environment and the public health can only be accomplished by fixing the pipes. This is our only charge as Board Members.

The most important issue that RVSD faces is an environmental one. The aging pipe infrastructure is the direct cause of spills. In fact, 71% of the system was constructed between 1940 and 1959, which means that the bulk of the system is 53 to 72 years old. The only way to prevent spills is to replace pipe that is past its life span of 40 to 50 years.

Never in the past 35 years has more pipe been replaced than during my tenure on the Board. We have managed to replace approximately 18 miles of pipe, however, this is not fast enough given the state the pipes are in.

For some recent photos of the inside of our pipes taken by our CCTV (Closed Circuit TV) crew go to my website: http://www.VoteMarciaJohnson.com and click on the Issues menu. At a recent meeting over 200 photos of this type were shown in a revolving slide show on a large screen so the public could get a clearer idea about the state of our pipes. The first, third and fourth photos show places where the pipe has completely fallen in which means that sewage will be escaping into the ground to the detriment of the environment. Obviously the rat in the second photo is not a good sign. Rats can only get in if the pipe is broken at some point and they spread disease, etc.

We are currently considering a $60 million revenue bond that would only require Board approval. This bond program would replace approximately 60 miles of pipe in the RVSD. A bond with a long term repayment creates a structure wherein the users of the system now and the users of the system throughout the coming years are all paying for infrastructure that should last about 40-50 years. All users of a long-term asset should share in the cost of the asset.

We have had a comprehensive Capital Improvement Program (CIP) since 2006. It is a revolving ten year plan, with projects continually being added every year as part of our budget process. The details of the plan can be found on the http://www.rvsd.org website.

Some people do not understand that our work is mandated by the Clean Water Act as well as the State Water Quality Control Board. The key mandate is that we "shall allocate adequate resources for the operation, maintenance and repair of the sanitary sewer system". In order to carry this out we are required to "establish a proper rate structure to ensure...adequate...revenues" and that we will "identify and prioritize system deficiencies and implement short-term and long-term rehabilitation actions to address each deficiency". These legal requirements and public health mandates that are not optional. These mandates are not suggestions, but requirements, like building codes.

More deferral of doing the long past due replacement work means gambling with the environment -- something that I am not willing to do. RVSD needs to fulfill its legal mandate to replace our aging pipes. This is required by both state and federal environmental laws. I firmly agree with this mandate and am doing everything I can towards furthering the fulfillment of these requirements. These are not goals, these are requirements. Our core issues are twofold -- protecting the environment and the public health. It is just that simple.