Networking to Save an Impaired River in California Wine Country

Sonoma County hired an ombudsperson to work with homeowners, onsite installers and government officials to improve Russian River water quality.

Networking to Save an Impaired River in California Wine Country

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After about five years of deliberations, the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board last year approved a plan to address pollution in the Russian River. Up to 10,000 properties in Sonoma County will be affected by the rules. To help citizens deal with the regulations, the county — about an hour north of San Francisco in wine country — hired Alisha O’Loughlin as an ombudsperson to explain the changes, answer questions and generally be a resource for citizens. Pumper talked with O’Loughlin just a month after she started the job.

Pumper: Have you been a county resident for a long time?

O’Loughlin: I live in the town of Guerneville, and collectively I’ve lived here about 15 years. I have a 13-year-old daughter. We swim in the river, kayak, canoe and take our dog to the river. We don’t fish, that’s probably the only recreational activity I don’t do. 

Pumper: What are the water-quality issues, and how did they test to determine the pathogen problem?

O’Loughlin: The Russian River Watershed is listed as sediment-, temperature- and pathogen-impaired under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. The Russian River pathogen total maximum daily load is designed to assess by multiple lines of evidence the extent of pathogen contamination and the likely contributing sources.

Pumper: What are the significant pollutant levels they found, and how do they tie that to onsite systems?

O’Loughlin: Fecal indicator bacteria data was used to define subwatersheds where there is evidence of impairment. The TMDL makes no finding associated with specific onsite septic systems. Rather, the TMDL action plan requires that onsite wastewater treatment system owners within the areas of concern assess their systems every five years to confirm that the systems are fully functioning and submit those results to the Regional Water Board upon request.

The primary objectives of the state management program with respect to onsite systems are to identify systems that are failing, that are not allowed under the statewide policy (for example, cesspools) and that are at high risk of failing because they are being operated beyond their capacity and to also ensure that noncompliant systems are repaired or replaced. 

Pumper: How can we describe the typical problems with the systems — old systems on tiny lots or overuse when vacation cabins become full-time homes?

O’Loughlin: Typical system problems include age, functionality and design capacity for current levels of use, with a high percentage of existing onsite systems predating adopted local standards for their design and siting. These issues are compounded by local site conditions such as steep slopes and small parcel sizes that may make it more challenging and costly to replace or upgrade a system in order to meet current state and local standards.

Pumper: What is your background?

O’Loughlin: It’s in natural resources and community planning. I worked in the Humboldt and Del Norte counties’ Local Agency Formation Commissions that oversee annexations and other issues about boundaries of government and public services. I was an assistant planner for a private consulting firm, and for about 10 years I worked in the nonprofit world. I worked for two bicycle-advocacy and education organizations. We worked with all the local jurisdictions and the county to try to get safe bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure funded and on the ground, including bike lanes and multiuse pathways.

Pumper: What made you apply for the job?

O’Loughlin: I’m passionate about the subject matter. I love the river. I love the community that I live in and the people who live there. I wanted to take all my professional experience and apply that in my hometown.

I feel good about helping clean up the river. It’s something that needs to be done. But at the same time, I want to make sure it’s done in such a way that we minimize the impact on local residents. Some of the communities in the Lower Russian River are disadvantaged communities, and several people are on limited and fixed incomes, so the thought of a $40,000 to $70,000 septic system replacement is just something that’s not obtainable for some folks. Those numbers come from very preliminary cost estimates provide by a local septic consultant and are very site specific.

My job is to bring those concerns back to the county and regional water board and all the key players, work together to address those issues and, most important, find some support and resources for the local community members.

Pumper: Have you had any calls from the public?

O’Loughlin: Yes, and I expect many more over the coming months as residents become aware of the new requirements and as funding and resources become available. I think a lot of people still don’t realize this is before them. Some of the other feedback I’ve heard from folks is, “I have 15 or 20 years so I don’t need to worry about it today.” But, 15 or 20 years can go by pretty quickly, especially when you’re planning community infrastructure projects.

The regional water board has allowed 15 years for people to reach compliance or 20 years if they’re participating in a community-driven process to put a shared system in place.

Pumper: What types of replacement systems will be used?

O’Loughlin: We’re going to be looking at a wide variety of solutions: single systems and cluster systems and upgrades to ensure all pathogens are removed. Where suitable, connecting to the sewer will also be explored. The basic requirement is that no pathogens reach the water table.

Pumper: How are you incentivizing people?

O’Loughlin: Right now we’re in the process of trying to pull together some funding resources to help homeowners. We’re exploring the possibility of the county offering miniloans through the state’s revolving fund, in addition to exploring other below-market-rate loan and grant opportunities.

Pumper: Are you working with installers on this initiative?

O’Loughlin: Not yet. We will eventually be reaching out to the professionals, along with other community stakeholders, as part of a larger public outreach process. 

Pumper: How long will your job last?

O’Loughlin: Currently it’s a two-year fixed term. However, that could be extended if things don’t roll out as quickly as we would like them to. It will probably take two years to get to the first stage of some of these projects.   



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