markleevillewatercompany

Calling All Members – Volunteer Your Time & Expertise!

Happy New Year Markleeville Waterville Company Members and Friends!

We hope you had a great Christmas holiday and that you and yours are happy, healthy and safe.

As we kick off the new year we wanted to let everyone know that your participation and experience is ALWAYS welcome.

At our last meeting, at which by the way Becky Thornburg was elected as vice-president of the Board (congrats and thank you Becky!), we discussed MWC’s need for continued volunteerism.

Many of you helped out during our wateshed restoration and for that we are grateful. We wanted to mention, though, that continued help and participation is welcome and needed.

Perhaps you have expertise in areas such as engineering, plumbing, heavy equipment, electrical, construction, communication, or something else that could be of benefit to MWC or Alpine Co.?

If you’d like to help out, or just learn more about your water company, join us at one of our meetings.

All meetings are held on the third Saturday of the month, from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. and while they are not open to the entire public, they are open to all members and those with a membership interest (for more on those terms, check out our bylaws on our Important Documents page).

The regular board meetings take place on the first month of the quarter (i.e. Jan., April, July and October), and are held BOTH in-person and via Zoom.

Our special call meetings, held on the second and third months of the quarters, are held via Zoom only, and are typically shorter than the regular board meetings.

If you’d like to participate, email us at markleevillewatercompany@gmail.com and we’ll send you the meeting details.

Please join us at an upcoming meeting. We’d love to see you!

P.s. Even if you can’t join us at a meeting, your input is always appreciated.

Volunteers Answered the Call – Thank you!

Thanks to our intrepid volunteers, including locals, Nevadans, CalFire and Ca Conservation Corp members, we had a successful three (3) days of restoration.

Some of the team doing a bit of seeding. The Musser & Jarvis Creek can be seen just behind them.

Each of the three (3) days brought us approximately 30 volunteers, who focused on seeding the slopes, and chinking trees, in the watershed, in order to lessen the effects of erosion and mitigate debris flowing into the creek. Editors note: The image at the top of this post is only of one crew, this particular troup was on site last Sunday.

Chinking? You ask…I (Mark) had not heard the term before last Sunday but based on what I can tell it is derived from log cabin building and the filling in of the spaces between the logs with a mortar of some sort.

As it relates to erosion mitigation it’s about filling in the upslope side of a felled tree (felled parallel to the creek) with rocks and dirt in order to capture sediment and re-direct water flow.

A video of the operation, including a look at some chinking.

A special shout out to the Alpine County Chamber of Commerce and its Tamarack Fire Assistance Fund. It was that fund that allowed us to purchase the wattles and the seed.

Andy Lovell, and the Alpine Trails Association, helped out with tools expertise.

Mary Young, our President, and the First Gentleman, Bill Young, also deserve a shout out. They spent countless hours doing reconnaissance on the watershed, developing the plan and most importantly “herding the cats” to get the work done.

We should also mention Kimra and Sierra, from the Alpine Watershed Group. Their expertise and direction was such a plus!

The BIGGEST shout out, however, goes to you, dear volunteer. We wish we could name you all but the post would be too long if we did.

WE ARE SO THANKFUL! The Water Co., and the community as a whole, is lucky to have you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Musser & Jarvis Watershed Restoration Weekend – Volunteers Needed!

This weekend we’ll be laying wattles, and seeding the area, around the Musser & Jarvis watershed (which supplies Markleeville’s water) to help restore burn areas from the Tamarack Fire.

If you’re a MWC Member this is a great opportunity for you to learn more about the watershed that serves your water needs and more importantly, it’s a chance for you to contribute to the ongoing health of your watershed.

Please note the various requirements on the flyer above (masks to carpool, PPE required, 18+ only, etc.)

We hope to see you this weekend!

Our Surface Water is Untreatable – Please Conserve!

Due to the storm runoff, MWC is unable to treat surface water. The image above is of our collection gallery and was taken this past Sunday.

We will be running off of our two (2) wells for the foreseeable future.

We know there is water everywhere, but as you can see if you look at our creeks and rivers, the water is not fit to drink (or even to treat to attempt to make it drinkable).

In addition, our raw water intake is blocked and will require maintenance once the creek drops.

Members have been doing an amazing job conserving water and we ask that you continue to do so.

The October Board Meeting Has Been Canceled

Because we held our annual meeting earlier this month we will not hold our October board meeting on October 16th.

Big thanks, by the way, to those of you who participated in the annual meeting at the Markleeville Library Park on October 2nd.

Our next board meeting will be held on November 20th, at Station 92, on Hot Springs Road.

All Members and Qualified Persons are welcome to attend.

We hope to see you there!

Annual Meeting to Take Place at Library Park on October 2, 2021

Bring those hats, put on some sunscreen and bring those chairs too.

In yet another first for MWC, we’ll have our meeting outside this year at the Markleeville Library Park.

The meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. and we’ll have the agenda posted on our Important Documents page prior.

Highlights of the meeting include:

President’s report by Mary Young
(including an update on the planning grant; and water production and conservation measures)
Nominations for, and election of, one (1) Director
(Steve Hibbs is retiring after many years of service so let’s give him a
great “send-off”)

All Members and Qualified Persons are welcome to attend.

We hope to see you there!

Hazard Trees to Be Removed From Around the Pleasant Valley Tank

At Markleeville Water Company’s request the Forest Service is removing eight (8) burned trees from around the Pleasant Valley water tank. If these trees were allowed to remain there is a danger of the trees falling on the tank. This would put the tank out of service and we estimate it would be well over a year before it could be placed back in service.

This water tank provides all of Marklee Village and Thornburg subdivisions with drinking water and fire protection. Living without this tank is not an option for us. These trees truly are a hazard to our water supply and without a water supply we cannot inhabit our homes.

Please do not complain to, or harass the crews doing the tree removal. They are protecting your water supply.

For more information, please email us at markleevillewatercompany@gmail.com.

Upcoming Meetings and a Handy Table for Watering Days

Our next board meeting will take place in-person on Saturday, September 18th, at Station 92 (799 Hot Springs Rd., Markeeville) at 8:30 a.m.

Members and Qualified Persons are welcome to attend! Masks are required.

We’ve tentatively rescheduled our Annual Meeting for Saturday, October 2nd.

Location and time TBD so please stay tuned.

We’ve received some requests for clarification on watering days since some months have five (5) weeks in them. Please refer to this table:

View this post for more information.

Limited Landscape Watering Allowed Starting Wednesday!

First and foremost, THANK YOU for following the previously issued restrictions and helping to conserve. You’ve done an amazing job!

Because of your efforts we’re able to allow for
some landscape watering starting this coming week.

A huge thank you also to Kris Hartnett, one of our directors; past-president, Steve Martin; and Buck McLelland, our operator, for their efforts in keeping things flowing. Be sure to say thanks or buy them a beer when you see ’em!

Landsape watering guidelines. Note that the plan recognizes full weeks only, that it resets each new calendar month and there is NO watering allowed other than weeks 1-4.

For a copy of these guidelines, a better understanding of the details behind this change, and other information, like contact numbers for questions, please go to our Important Documents page and download a copy of our Fire Related Mandatory Conservation Plan (under “Notices and Forms”).

Copies of the plan are also available at the Markleeville Post Office.

Stay safe, stay aware and keep conserving!

Thank you,

Your MWC Team

Ps. Big kudos and thanks to those Members who joined us yesterday at our Board Meeting. Your interest and participation is MUCH APPRECIATED!

Upcoming Board Meeting This Saturday – at the Fire Station

We’ll be meeting in-person this Saturday, August, 21, 2021, starting at 8:30 a.m., at Station 92, 799 Hot Springs Road, in Markleeville.

On the agenda are many items, including the election of one (1) director, with substantial time set aside for the following:

Operations Report
Systems Condition Report (clean-up, MWC’s plant infrastructure, collection gallery status, and more)
Status of MWC’s insurance claim
Status of the CA Dept. of Emergency Services claim
NRCS Emergency Watershed Restoration Program
Water-use restrictions

That’s not a complete list, by the way. Go to our Important Documents Page, and scroll down to “Board Meeting Agendas (current year),” to view the entire agenda.

We’ve got a lot to cover and members and qualified persons are strongly encouraged to attend.

Masks are required.

We hope to see you Saturday and please feel free to spread the word.