HomeMy WebLinkAboutExplanationStaff Recommendation
Staff is recommending the City Council of the City of National City hold a Public Hearing to
consider the updated Sewer System Management Plan as requested by the State Water
Resources Control Board Order No. 2006-0003-DWQ which requires recertification by the
governing board of the Enrollee when significant changes to the SSMP are made.
Explanation
The City of National City owns, operates and maintains a sanitary sewer collection system that
conveys wastewater from all properties within the City to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment
Plant. Like all other participating agencies that operate their own sanitary sewer collection
systems, the National City is required to take a variety of steps to prevent overflows from their
sanitary sewer collection system. The actions taken to prevent and respond to sanitary sewer
overflows (SSO) are detailed in the Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP) which is a
document required by the State of California. The State regulations require the development
and implementation of an SSMP include State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Order
No. 2006-0003-DWQ, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) Order No.
R9-2007-0005, and SWRCB Order WQ 2008-0002-EXEC.
National City's first SSMP was prepared in 2009 by Infrastructure Engineering Corporation.
Subsequently, representatives from the SWRCB and RWQCB audited the City's SSMP program
in February 2012. Some deficiencies were noted in the original SSMP and corresponding
procedures as detailed in the audit report issued by the RWQCB in August 2012. To address
the concerns raised, the City contracted D-MAx Engineering to review and update the City's
SSMP to ensure it meets State standards and to fulfill the routine requirement in SWRCB Order
No. 2006-0003-DWQ to review and update the SSMP every two years. As a result of this effort,
a revised SSMP has been prepared. All major findings from the State audit have been
addressed in the revised SSMP.
The major changes to the SSMP include updates and clarifications to the City's SSO response
and recordkeeping procedures. New flow charts were prepared to clarify which actions are
needed in which circumstances and how to appropriately classify and report various categories
of SSOs, including relevant timelines and reporting mechanisms. New forms designed to track
all required information were prepared, along with more detailed procedures on how and when
to use them. Public Works staff has been trained on these new procedures and are currently
using them. Updates to the City's map of its sanitary sewer infrastructure, including locations
requiring higher cleaning frequencies, were also made, and a revised set of metrics for tracking
program effectiveness has been added. The overall layout of the SSMP document was also
revised to include explicit references to State requirements within the text of the SSMP and to
show how each requirement is addressed by the City's program.
The updated SSMP was posted on the City's website thirty days prior to the Public Hearing and
members of the public where invited to comment on the revised SSMP, which is available by
request from Public Works.