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Public Hearing to Consider Introduction of Ordinance Revising the City's Sewer Service Charges. (Public Works 602)
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
Re: Hold a Public Hearing and Introduce an Ordinance Revising the City's Sewer Service Charge
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (Alameda) collects sewage generated by Alameda residents and businesses and conveys it via a network of sewer pipes, pump stations, and lift stations to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) for treatment. Many of the City's sewers were installed in the early to mid-20th century and now show signs of deterioration such as loose joints, cracks, and breaks. The City, through intentional design, has separate sanitary sewer and storm water drainage systems. Infiltration and inflow (I/I) is storm water that should enter the storm drainage system but instead enters the sewer system through these cracks and other defects in the sewer pipes. I/I causes excessive sanitary flows during wet weather events that exceed both local conveyance and regional treatment capacity.
In the 1980s, EBMUD constructed three wet weather facilities (WWFs), with regulatory approval, to handle the increased sanitary flow during large storm events. However, in 2007, EBMUD's discharge permit for the WWFs was remanded by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) based on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling that the discharges do not meet secondary treatment standards and therefore, are in violation of the Clean Water Act. In 2009, the EPA filed a complaint against EBMUD for the continued use of the WWFs. The EBMUD lawsuit was followed by a separate suit by the EPA against each of the municipal entities that operate sewer collection systems discharging to the EBMUD system. Alameda was named in the second lawsuit, along with the other dischargers including Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakla...
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