California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Desert Water Agency has been fined $181,947 by the regional water board for discharging approximately 268,916 gallons of raw sewage into the Whitewater River Channel in 2019.
The incident occurred between Feb. 15-19 after a main pipe ruptured during a heavy storm, sending the untreated wastewater into the channel in Cathedral City. The agency successfully diverted the sewage when it became aware of the spill and later replaced the sewer line.
According to the settlement approved by the Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board, half of the penalty will be deposited in the State Water Resources Control Board’s Cleanup and Abatement Account. The balance will be used by the Desert Water Agency to purchase and install a flow meter monitoring vault and sample box to detect flow variations that indicate pipe breakages and take water samples to identify pollution in the river channel and local groundwater.
“Protecting water quality for human health and the environment is our highest priority,” said Cassandra Owens, assistant executive officer for the regional water board, “and often this means ensuring vigilance among water systems when it comes to maintaining their infrastructure. Directing part of the penalty to the monitoring equipment will enable Desert Water Agency to detect flow variations, identify damage and make repairs expeditiously.”
The settlement amount was based on several factors, including the degree of toxicity of the discharge, number of days and gallons of the spill, and actual or potential harm to beneficial uses.
