11.c.1
There are two important scenarios that the wastewater Master plan should address: Day Zero, and flooding. Day Zero means the day when we run out of water. This has already happened in Marin county and also in Johannesburg South Africa. Every year when it rains heavily we hear of beaches being shut down in Santa Barbara because of sewers overflowing. Both scenarios are because we have a water-based sanitation system. Having an alternative non-water-based sanitation system available would be wise. Santa Cruz county has already approved such systems because water systems could not be easily restored in areas affected by fires. Ryan Smith, who is in charge of sanitation for the city of Watsonville, did his master's thesis on container based sanitation. This is an easily scalable non-water system which can be used in the event of the failure of a water-based sanitation system. I highly recommend that contingency plans be included in the wastewater Master plan for use during or after an extreme weather event.
Respectfully yours,
Geoffrey Wheeler PE