Letter to the Editor Addresses Garberville Sanitation District Manager With Concerns
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Dear Garberville Sanitation District (GSD) Manager Ralph Emerson,
Since you don’t want to answer or reply to my email questions, I wanted to discuss, in public, what you stated to KMUD News, concerning GSD selling “Bulk Water” outside GSD’s place of use, in violation of your water diversion license and permit in 2017, 2018 and 2019, including the 2012 Cease & Desist Order (CDO). This was during an interview with KMUD News that aired 9 months ago:
https://soundcloud.com/
kmudnews/garberville-sanitary- district-warned-about-bulk- water-sales In your interview, you stated, in part:
“In Southern Humboldt, we’re the last largest district water provider for Southern Humboldt. And so we happen to have CalTrans substation in our district, we have CalFire, we have the County Road Department, we have PG&E. They’re customers already. They use it [GSD water] for their offices, for their personnel, for their equipment and vehicles and so the controversy, the misunderstanding is that we have control over what a customer does with their water. They can do whatever they’d like to do with the water. In this particular case, the County Road Department has used water from their meter, that they’ve had for many, many years and they’re apparently using water for some of their southern Humboldt projects. Calfire receives water. It goes to the fire trucks and it goes outside the district. Fire departments, CalTrans, the Road Department, or any other customer is no different. So we have no idea what these customers do with their water including any of your listeners that has water, they pay for water, and whatever right to use the water in any way they choose, but we don’t have limits on how much they can take.”
As to your comments, let me provide one example of what is stated in ORDER WR 2020-0104-EXEC, in part it states:
7. Compliance Actions. The Settling Parties agree that GSD will take the following actions to come into compliance with Cease and Desist Order 2012-0036-DWR:
a. GSD shall, in compliance with the terms of Provision 1 of Cease and Desist Order 2012-0036-DWR, prohibit metered customers who are located within the authorized place of use described under License 3404 and Permit 20789 from purchasing bulk water and transporting it outside the place of use. Where GSD has knowledge of a violation of this prohibition, it will take reasonable and necessary actions to halt the activity.
b. In the event any future requests are received by GSD for the purchase of bulk water and transport outside the place of use that is not needed for emergency domestic water supply or any other use allowed by Cease and Desist Order 2012-0036-DWR pursuant to its current or amended text (if later amended), GSD will deny the request unless the customer has a temporary urgency change petition approved by the State Water Board in accordance with California Water Code section 1435.
Why has no one, not GSD, not Calfire, not Caltrans, not Public Works ever filed an “temporary urgency change petition” as stated!
Also stated in your KMUD interview and I quote:
“If we have a fire in Redway and I provide water for the fire department to put the fire out in Redway, I didn’t believe that would be a violation because it’s an emergency. And if 101 that was closed and impacting all people traveling up and down 101 two years ago, that was a slide. CalTrans contacted me and said they had an emergency, wanted help on 101, and they needed water and I was the closest person that could provide the water at that time. So we felt, I felt, that providing the water to help open highway 101, and any other emergency road slides or road repairs for emergencies, or classified as emergencies , that that would be acceptable. But they’re not stated specifically in our Cease and Desist Order of 2012, so we were told that we could not provide water to anybody out of a fire hydrant or our water treatment plant to go to these districts or go outside of the district boundaries. And so we stopped providing bulk water. We do not provide bulk, sell water to any person or anybody to this point.”
And you concluded with the following aberration from your interview:
“We had a cease and desist in 2012 for no bulk water and they reiterated that a year and a half ago, and stated that even for emergencies we weren’t allowed to provide bulk water. And I would think if anybody wants to question that, as I think they should, they should contact the State Water Board and voice their concerns with them because I think if there is a fire in Redway, I think we should absolutely have the right to provide water to them to put the fire out. Under the Cease and Desist we have and the directions we’ve received, I would not be able to do that. Garberville Sanitary District’s Board is one hundred percent on board as wanting to do that, and share resources and have a water transmission connected between both districts to where if we had a fire or an outage or a water treatment plant malfunction, I would just contact Redway, say we need water, we’ll pay you for whatever goes through the meter. The same would go for them if they had a malfunction or a fire or some other catastrophe where they needed extra water.”
You keep misinforming the public, by talking about hypothetical events or envisage use of GSD water for fire emergencies. Even though this ORDER WR 2020-0104-EXEC and violations do not include “Bulk Water” being sold for fire prevention or fighting fires, as stated and addressed in the Order here:
19. On October 22, 2018, GSD informed the Division that, in addition to the eWRIMS reports, GSD kept records of its bulk water sales, but did not record or report water sales to CalFire for use in firefighting activities. Division staff notified Ms. Short that due to the immediacy of CalFire’s needs for water during a firefighting crisis, the Division would not consider GSD’s failure to keep accurate records of those sales a violation of the Final CDO.
This Order is specifically addressing violations concerning what water was being sold by GSD for construction jobs outside GSD permitted place of use, and the vague, ambiguous and sloppy record keeping, not water used for fire/public safety, in part stated here:
Violation: failing to keep accurate and complete records of bulk water sales as required by Provision 2 of the Final CDO.
a. Provision 2 of CDO 2012-0036-DWR states that if bulk water sales continue, GSD must “keep accurate records of each sale, including the volume of water sold, the date of the sale, the name of the commercial water hauler purchasing the water, and the final place of use, which shall be made available to the Division upon request.” Following the issuance of the Final CDO, GSD continued to sell bulk water without keeping accurate and complete records of each sale. Over half of the sales records that GSD provided to the Division lacked the requisite information. Significantly, the ultimate place of use of the bulk water was not identified in many of the records, making it difficult for Division staff to determine compliance.
b. Each day that GSD sold bulk water but failed to keep accurate records constitutes a day of violation of Provision 2 of the Final CDO. Days of violation of the Final CDO were calculated by reviewing the documents provided by both Caltrans and GSD to determine when GSD sold bulk water, for what purpose, and where the water was used. Between April 20, 2017 to October 26, 2018 GSD violated Provision 2 of the Final CDO on a total of 106 days.
39. GSD accrued a total of 205 days of violation between 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Since most all the records kept by GSD for “Bulk Water” sales “lacked the requisite information”, are the annual reports submitted by GSD for the amount of surface water diversion from the South Fork Eel River accurate or just as sloppy? And given the inaccuracy of billing, accounting and record keeping, according to this Order, how would anyone know if all the “Bulk Water” billing went through GSD’s books? Since nothing added up and what records there are “do not provide sufficient information”, as stated here:
26. On January 9, 2019, GSD provided more records of GSD’s bulk water sales.
GSD Provided a summary of the sales records, which, after cross referencing with the actual sales records, proved to be inaccurate. Despite that the Final CDO requires GSD to keep accurate records of each sale including the volume of water sold, the date of the sale, and the place of use, the records GSD provided lacked much of that information. Division staff was able to determine that GSD sold bulk water, but in many instances was unable to immediately determine the purpose of use, for example if it was for emergency domestic water supply, and whether the final place of use of that water was outside of the GSD’s place of use. Many of the records contained only project numbers that correspond to specific CalTrans project sites, rather than a description of what the water was used for, or where it was delivered. The records relating to GSD’s sale of bulk water to Mendocino Construction Company indicate that the water was used for construction purposes, but the records do not provide sufficient information to determine if the water was used outside of the authorized place of use. Each time GSD sold bulk water but failed keep accurate records of that sale it violated Provision 2 of the CDO.So if GSD is this sloppy with required record keeping for its day to day operation (water sales), which has now cost the GSD ratepayers $40,000 in fines, on top of a new rate price increase (June 2020), what else could Ralph Emerson do to make it worse?
d. The corrective action, if any, taken by the violator:
i. On November 30, 2018, Mr. Ralph Emerson responded to the Notice of Violation on behalf of GSD, outlining the corrective
action for the violation of the Final CDO. Mr. Emerson stated that as of October 2018, all water sales for emergency construction a ctivities outside of the place of use ceased, and a notice was posted to the public. On November 6, 2019, Division staff were informed that GSD continued to sell bulk water for construction uses outside of the place of use despite Mr. Emerson stating otherwise.It seems the Water Board gets it, “Mr. Ralph Emerson” lied to the Water Board. to its ratepayers and speaking on behalf of GSD Board! This was all an illegal scheme cooked up by Mr. Ralph Emerson while representing the GSD Board! He should offer his resignation as GSD MGR at the next Board meeting on September 22, 2020, or the GSD Board should vote to rescind his contract with GSD as General Manager!
How much more is the public in the dark about? It makes you wonder why GSD just had a rate increase, in June 2020. Because GSD knew about all these months before, without disclosing it to the public. Was the rate increase a way to make up for the $40,000 fine and loss of “Bulk Water” sales?
If you are a GSD ratepayer, you need to attend GSD Board meeting. ask questions and make them accountable because GSD knows no ratepayers are willing to step forward and question them whatsoever! I’m fighting for the rights and protection of the South Fork Eel, you should be too, its where you get your lizard water from…https://www.waterboards.ca.
gov/waterrights/board_ decisions/adopted_orders/ orders/2020/wro2020_0104_exec. Ed Voice
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I saw the headline and I knew it was ed I don’t have a life voice..
Ed,
Can you sum it up in a few sentences? There’s no way I’m reading that whole thing unless there’s a hook.
No, if I could have I would have. One of my points, was that Emerson is claiming GSD cannot supply water to local fire departments and Calfire outside GSD water service boundary, or what’s called GSD’s place of use because of this Cease & Desist Order (which is poppycock). In other words Emerson is fearmongering and lying to the public using misinformation to distract from what Emerson caused.
Here’s what Emerson stated in a letter at tonight’s GSD meeting:
“What we have learned from denying water for fire suppression and emergencies is that the
“Bulk Water” cease and desist order is potentially harmful to the health and safety of
Southern Humboldt County and to our customers, which is why the Cease and Desist
Order should be amended to allow for GSD discretion on providing water (if available) for
emergencies.”
“The current cease and desist order which was cited in the “bulk water” settlement
references potable water but does not address water for other types of emergencies. Since
Cal-Fire, Cal-Trans, Humboldt Road Department and the local fire department are all
within GSD boundaries and all of them work on emergencies throughout the year, I
recommend pursuing an amendment to the Cease and Desist order.”
“In light of the fires ravaging California now and in the past, it is incomprehensible and
irresponsible for GSD not to be able to provide water for fighting a fire that is threatening
our community or to provide water for other emergencies which threaten our health and
safety.”
Page 36, agenda item B.6:
https://www.garbervillesd.org/files/6c22907b5/BOD+Agenda+Packet+September+22%2C+2020.pdf
What Emerson stated was total BS, to cover his own ass! The $40,000 fine and settlement agreement had nothing to do with GSD selling or providing water for fire prevention or fire emergencies, it was all about GSD providing water for construction projects, outside GSD jurisdictional boundary, which is a big NO NO with the Water Board and Emerson knew it!
Seems its just another stupid regulation, if you can’t sell water outside the water shed wouldn’t that apply to calfire taking water out of the area also?
NO! As the Water Board stated in their Cease & Desist Order and I stated in my Letter:
“Division staff notified Ms. Short that due to the immediacy of CalFire’s needs for water during a firefighting crisis, the Division would not consider GSD’s failure to keep accurate records of those sales a violation of the Final CDO.”
Shady, undocumented bulk water sales are just the latest way GSD tries to cover its financial misdeeds, and continued efforts to make its ratepayers pick up the tab, and its water manager, Ralph Emerson’s grossly inflated salary. Ratepayers need to show up at upcoming GSD board meetings and demand details and accountability, before consenting to GSD’s latest outrageous rate increase scheme.
GSD should be allowed to sell water outside these stupid boundaries. Contractors need water and marijuana is what keeps our community alive. Ed Voice is a nasty little pest. Ralph is helping us move forward The water board should be shut down. These violations are a joke
Sure and what about down stream users that have Water Rights, i.e. Redway, Phillipsville, Miranda. We are talking about the South Fork Eel, which I might add is only at 14 cfs today. I take it you always drive 10 mph over the speed limit, doesn’t wear a seatbelt, drive while intoxicated and dump trash along the highway too? There are laws and regulations for a reason and they apply as well in Southern Humboldt. The Water Board had warned GSD to stop in 2012 & 2018, to no avail. Emerson knew what he was doing, he lied and got caught, he needs to go!
Anyone that thinks the California water board is good has lost touch with reality. Their regulations only serve to line their own pockets and for the state to have as much control as possible.
?
I should post that picture every time you write a letter to the editor. You would agree with Hitler if it suited your needs for your senseless feud with the water board. At this point I’m assuming that Emerson must of slept with your wife because nothing else would make sense
My “feud”, as you call it, is not with the “water board”, its with GSD. It just so happens Ralph Emerson is its current GM. GSD controls the amount of water it diverts from the South Fork Eel and that river does not serve at the pleasurer of GSD or Ralph Emerson. I am not doing anything different than I have done with past GSD staff, GM or Board Members. I’m holding them accountable for their actions and making them known. You see, this cease & desist order is only one example of how GSD operates as a public agency, they lie, cheat, steal and keep the public in the dark when ever possible. So I call them on it when ever possible. The South Fork Eel deserves better and GSD needs to treat the SFE with utmost respect and protection that it can. The river cannot speak or defend itself, but I can!
“Contractors need water and marijuana is what keeps our community alive.”
Wrong, its the South Fork Eel River that keeps your “community alive” and by using and abusing it until its gone is no justification for an industry who does not invest into its own communities public health & public safety infrastructure, public school systems or road maintenance! The irony to your statement, is that GSD claims “We are a small severely disadvantaged community with a median annual household income of $28,265”, is that what you mean by “marijuana is what keeps our community alive”? What the marijuana industry does in the South Fork Eel River watershed is internalize profits and externalize the cost to its community!
I want to hear why the GSD was not fined $10,000 a day. What makes them so special?
Is it possible to a public records request for emails concerning the sale of the water, or where the money went. Also if this one person is totally responsible for the 40k fine, is not he legally responsible?
Yes you could and good luck. The Water Board already requested all the GSD “Bulk Water” sales records and in part, this is what they had to say:
“26. On January 9, 2019, GSD provided more records of GSD’s bulk water sales.
GSD Provided a summary of the sales records, which, after cross referencing
with the actual sales records, proved to be inaccurate. Despite that the Final
CDO requires GSD to keep accurate records of each sale including the volume
of water sold, the date of the sale, and the place of use, the records GSD
provided lacked much of that information. Division staff was able to determine
that GSD sold bulk water, but in many instances was unable to immediately
determine the purpose of use, for example if it was for emergency domestic
water supply, and whether the final place of use of that water was outside of the
GSD’s place of use. Many of the records contained only project numbers that
correspond to specific CalTrans project sites, rather than a description of what
the water was used for, or where it was delivered. The records relating to GSD’s
sale of bulk water to Mendocino Construction Company indicate that the water
was used for construction purposes, but the records do not provide sufficient
information to determine if the water was used outside of the authorized place of
use. Each time GSD sold bulk water but failed keep accurate records of that sale
it violated Provision 2 of the CDO.”
“35. Not all records have meter readings on the record logs. Many of the records
showed estimated values for volume of water sold. There were five meter
reading logs which included a total of 251 truckloads, however, the amount of
water in each load was not stated. Therefore, Division staff was unable to include
the 251 truckloads in the total. The records in the summary page provided by
GSD indicated a total of 1,842,799 gallons of water sold in 2017 and 936,508
gallons of water was sold in 2018. GSD’s summary pages for 2017 and 2018
added up to be 2,779,307 gallons of water.”
Ralph Emerson was the GSD General Manager in 2017, 2018, 2019 when these violation took place! I don’t know about being “legally responsible”. However, why should the GSD ratepayers be responsible for this $40,000 fine because of his misconduct and dereliction of duty of a public servant!
Who runs the water district and on the board in Redway? It seems foolish to have two communities two miles apart with two separate water districts? What I read they are even hooked together for an emergency! Let’s call this what it looks like, a side gig selling water to water weed and not recorded. Just combine the two districts standardize the paperwork and get rid of the duplicate employees. The work cannot be that hard compared to a larger community.
“What I read they are even hooked together for an emergency!”
No they are not! Its only Ralph Emerson’s wet dream to connect GSD to RCSD, not the other way around. If Emerson gets his way, he will suck RCSD dry to satisfy GSD’s thirst for development, which the South Fork Eel cannot support!