The Sacramento County grand jury’s report on the Rio Linda/Elverta Community Water District is the equivalent of a fourth alarm sounding at a fire station.
County and state officials must respond to protect the safety and pocketbooks of the district’s 14,000 residents. Now.
If there were any doubt about the need for sweeping reform – and given the shameful record of mismanagement and incompetence, there shouldn’t have been any – the report should put it to rest.
In her cover letter, grand jury forewoman Rosemary Kelley could not have issued a sterner warning: “All citizens should have continuous access to safe, palatable water and enough water to fight fires.”
Unfortunately, she said, those living in the district “do not have that access.” Because the district relies on outdated wells and pipelines and because the district’s leadership is so dysfunctional, residents cannot be confident that if a well gets contaminated, the district will professionally handle the response.
When Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews responded to an 18-acre fire in Rio Linda last September, they brought their own water. Homeowners and business owners in the district are already paying higher insurance premiums – at least $100 a year more for a single-family house – because of the low water pressure.
The situation is inexcusable.
The state Department of Public Health ordered the district to fix the deficiencies in 2007 and again last December, to no avail.
The grand jury said it’s patently obvious that the district won’t fix the problems without outside help and prodding.
So far, Sacramento County and the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission have shirked their responsibilities.
LAFCO has the power to reorganize the district, including forcing a merger with a neighboring utility such as the Sacramento Suburban Water District. Pushed by the Rio Linda Chamber of Commerce, LAFCO looked at a possible consolidation in 1995, but the effort fell apart by 1997.
Peter Brundage, LAFCO’s executive director, acknowledged Tuesday that the district is not meeting basic standards. But he said while the grand jury report will rebuild momentum for a merger or other reorganization, it’s too early to say what LAFCO will do.
The time for bureaucratic dilly-dallying is over. The district now covers 18 square miles in northern Sacramento County and could eventually add 5,000 more homes in planned developments in Elverta.
What are officials waiting for? Certainly, they don’t want to wait until after a tragic house fire that can’t be put out because of low water pressure? Right?