Consent Item 4n
STAFF REPORT
City Council Consent Item
DATE: January 16, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Andrew S. Bowles, Interim Chief Treatment Plant Operator SUBJECT: Certify the City of Fortuna’s Six-Year Sewer System Management Plan STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive report and certify the Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) by consent vote.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The purpose of the Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) is to facilitate proper management of the City’s sanitary sewer system and reduce occurrences of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).
The SSMP is a document that all public sewer system agencies are required to develop and implement under a General Order issued by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) (original Order 2006-0003-DWQ, updated to Order 2022-0103-DWQ).
Per the General Order for Sanitary Sewer Systems, the SSMP and the Enrollee’s program to implement the SSMP must be presented to the Enrollee’s governing board for approval at a public meeting. The Enrollee’s governing entity shall approve the updated plan. The Enrollee shall certify that the SSMP and subparts thereof, comply with the General Order and meet applicable timeframes. The Legally Responsible Official (LRO) for the City (Utility Shift Supervisor Jessie Suelzle) shall then upload the updated SSMP to the online California Integrated Water Quality System (CIWQS) Database for regulatory approval and public access.
This SSMP has been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the SWRCB under the updated General Order. The Order requires the development and implementation of a written SSMP and defines eleven mandatory SSMP elements. The Order also defines associated monitoring, record-keeping, reporting, and public notification requirements. City staff train on these components annually and exercise these principles in the field.
Freshwater Environmental Services (FES) prepared the original version of the SSMP in 2011, and City Council approved it that same year. The Council approved the most recent update in 2018. This version is an update of those previously approved documents. The most notable changes in this version include updates to contact information, equipment and spare parts inventories, and a complete re-drafting of the Spill Emergency Response Plan (SERP), which was a requirement of the updated General Order. City staff assisted FES in the finalization of this update. The next required update will be due in 2029.
If certified by the Council, the staff’s next steps will be to upload the updated documents to the CIWQS website as noted above, and perform training for staff on the new SSO reporting/investigation format included in the updated SERP.
Consent Item 4n
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Certify the City of Fortuna's Six-Year Sewer System Management Plan. Consent Agenda vote.
ATTACHMENTS:
2023 Sanitary Sewer Master Plan Draft Document