Sierra Brooks Water System

Creation

Sierra County Service Area 5, Zone 5A was created by the Sierra County Board of Supervisors in 1971 by its adoption of County Resolution 71-21. This document not only created the County Service Area zone, but also set forth those extended public services that the zone could provide to properties within its boundaries. Public water was one of those approve extended services. The Board of Supervisors, in its 1969 and 1970 approval and acceptance of Sierra Brooks Subdivision Units 1 and 2A, respectively, also accepted 5.89 miles of public roads into its maintained system of roads, and accepted ownership and responsibility for the public water system. This water system is officially known and identified as “Sierra Brooks Water System”.

Administration

The Sierra Brooks Water System is owned and operated by Sierra County under a permit issued by the State Department of Health Services, Division of Drinking Water. The Board of Supervisors sits as the directors of the water system, and the county director of transportation is assigned the responsibility as “general manager” of the water system. The system is maintained by a state-licensed grade operator employed by the county on the basis of twenty (20) hours per week. The county issues an annual report on July 1 of each year which outlines the water monitoring activities that have occurred during the previous year, and is also required to submit an annual report to the State Regional Water Quality Control Board each year. Consumer Confidence Report

How it Works

The Sierra Brooks Water System includes three wells/pump stations located at the north end of the Sierra Brooks Subdivision. Pump Station One was constructed in 1970, and the well at this location produces 130 gallons per minute. Pump Station Two was constructed in 1988, and the well at this location produces 350 gallons per minute. The distribution system is under constant pressure, pumping water through the lines to a 300,000 gallon storage tank located at the south end of the subdivision. The previously used water storage tank, a bolted-steel structure, also located at the south end of the subdivision, has been converted to a single source of fire water containing 200,000 gallons of water for emergency purposes.  In 2020 the The Sierra Brooks Water System Improvements Project was completed.  This project included installing new meters and service boxes on all existing unmetered service connections, construction of a new well and 300,000 gallon water tank  on  Antelope Valley Road, new booster pump station and lateral lines on Smithneck Road.  This project also separated the system into two pressure zones in order to lower the system pressures in the lower portion of the system.  The entire project was funded with a combination of grant funding and loans from the USDA Rural Development Program.  In conjunction with this improvement project the Sierra County Service Area 5A adopted new ordinances for the operation of the water system.  These ordinances  have been incorporated into the Sierra County Code Section 8.50 viewed here Sierra County Code.
   

Finances

The Board of Supervisors annually adopts a budget for the Sierra Brooks Water System as part of its approval of a county budget. The Board of Supervisors, following an election carrying the affirmative votes of a majority of the property owners within Sierra Brooks Subdivision, approved a special tax that is collected on the annual county property tax bill View Ordinance 854.This special tax is $240 per year ($20.00 per month) for improved parcels, $120.00 per year ($10.00) per month for unimproved parcels and $75.00 per year ($6.25 per month) for improved parcels with a well within the Sierra Brooks Subdivision. This special tax can only be used to support the operation and maintenance of the Sierra Brooks Water System. In 2019 per CSA Resolution 2019-001 additional operation fees for the Sierra Brooks Water Systems Improvements were approved.  Additional operational tax was approved in  2019 adding a monthly fee of $19.58 per month and a $2.27 per 1K gallons of water over the base allotment of 50,288 gallons per month.  Bonds were purchased per CSA Resolution 2019-006 for the Sierra Brooks Improvement project. The bond repayment is  $246.30 per parcel per year until 2059.