markleevillewatercompany

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.

Annual Meeting Postponed Due to the Tamarack Fire – and a Huge Thank You

Our annual meeting, previously scheduled for August 7th, 2021 at Turtle Rock Park, will be postponed to a date later this fall.

We’ll update this blog once we have a new date and location set.

We wish you all well as we all begin the recovery process.

We would also like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the first responders, especially our Operator, Buck McLelland, whose skills and devotion saved our plant from destruction.

The Boil Water Notice Has Been Lifted!

As of approximately 3:30 p.m. today the boil water notice was lifted.

Tests of our water came back negative so there is no longer a need to boil water before use if you live in any area serviced by MWC.

Please remember to conserve – see our previous post for more information on water-use restrictions.

Water-Use Restrictions in Effect Due to the Tamarack Fire

Due to the fire we are severely restricted in the amount of water we can produce daily. We can currently reliably produce approximately 35,000 gallons of water daily and it must be “spread around” as much as possible. Normal summer months’ daily use is 110,000 to 120,000 gallons.

Because we can provide for only the minimum domestic usage, the following water use restrictions are enacted July 24, 2021 and remain in effect until further notice.

You may use the water for domestic indoor-use only!

That means:

For drinking – Note that Marklee Village is under a boil-water notice. Read this post for more information.
For cooking
For washing – Please be water-wise when taking a shower or doing laundry
To flush toilets – Please flush sparingly.

The following are prohibited uses:

Washing structures – even those sprayed with fire-retardant
Washing cars or RVs
Irrigation/Landscape watering of any kind – this includes automatic sprinklers and drip-irrigation systems
Filling pools or outdoor ponds.

When you return home, whether by escort or permanently, turn off automated landscape sprinklers; check all indoor and outdoor fixtures for leaks, and repair any that you may find.

We are doing all we can to restore our system to normal, but due to the fire, we are severely hampered.

We ask for your patience as we, and you, work to get back to some semblance of normal after/during the devastation caused by the fire.

We will communicate changes as conditions improve. Continue to check back here for the latest information.

Thank you,

Your MWC Board of Directors

Automatic Sprinkler System at Your Home or Business? – Please Turn it Off

Hello members!

If you have an automatic sprinkler system we ask that when you have access to your property you turn it off.

This includes battery or generator powered systems.

No outside water use is allowed as we need to replenish our storage tanks.

This is a health and safety issue.

So whether you have a battery operated valve at your hose bibb that turns on your hose or sprinklers, or a generator that is operating while you are evacuated AND that generator is powering your automatic sprinkler system, please call Mary Young at 530-400-1849 and we will get someone to turn either, or both, off.

Thank you and stay safe!

Boil Water Notice

Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua potable. Tradúzcalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien.

BOIL YOUR WATER BEFORE USING

Failure to follow this advisory could result in stomach or intestinal illness.

Due to the recent power outage due to the Tamarack Fire, the California Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the Alpine County Health Department, and the Markleeville Water Company, are advising residents of Marklee Village and Thornburg Subdivisions to use boiled tap water or bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes as a safety precaution.

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one (1) minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking and food preparation until further notice.

Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

We will inform you when tests show that the water is safe to drink and you no longer need to boil your water.

Markleeville Water Company’s Current Status

Our Operator, Buck McLelland, has been on site or close-by since yesterday. He reports that as of this a.m. the plant is still intact, and the tanks did not burn. The power poles to the plant, however, did burn.

The Musser and Jarvis watershed has been impacted so we cannot treat surface water currently. Most likely this will be the case for awhile. We are producing water from our two (2) wells, however.

The state has been notified.

We will continue to provide updates as we can.

Stay safe and please stay out of the area so emergency personnel can do their job.

Deeper Reductions in Outdoor Water Use May Be Coming Soon

Hello Markleeville Water Company Members

Thank you for helping get us this far into a summer of record drought!

Stream flows, our main water source, are rapidly declining. This means even deeper reductions in outdoor water use may be coming soon. The MWC Board won’t impose them a day sooner than they’re needed. But on that day, you will find a notice on your front door and the reductions in outdoor water use it calls for will be mandatory. This post is to let you know ahead of time.

Adhering to the existing water conservation guidelines may help delay or prevent additional restrictions.

If imposed, reductions will be mandatory. They will conform to the MWC Bylaws, and penalties for noncompliance will be applied according to the Bylaws.

A letter has been sent to Corporation members along with the July water bill with more information on water use restrictions.

The current water conservation standards and a copy of the letter can be found on our Important Documents page.

Water – It’s a Serious Subject! Especially this Summer

As you can see from the above image, we’re way below normal this year in terms of snow water equivalent.

You should have recently received our Water Use Rules and Guidelines, as a reminder to conserve, and most importantly as a reminder that we’re all in it together.

Your Board of Directors has had several conversations about our “water-present,” and future, and continues to discuss the subject and plan accordingly.

Members are encouraged to join the discussion, attend meetings and provide input. Please see our previous post for upcoming meeting dates and times and how you can participate.

In the meantime, we appreciate your water-conservation help.

It’s up to all of us to do the little things, and be good water stewards!

Upcoming Meeting Schedule – Including the Annual Meeting. Members Encouraged to Attend!

Hello MWC Members!

As many of you know, over the last many months, your Board of Directors and Team has been meeting virtually (via Zoom).

At this point, mostly because it’s so convenient, we plan to continue to do so.

We welcome your participation at any of the meetings, especially the annual meeting in August, where YOUR INPUT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT.

HERE’S THE SCHEDULE:

There will be a special meeting, this Tuesday night, June 8^th, at 5 p.m., so the Board can approve a resolution required by the state in order to move forward with our construction grant.

mwc-agenda-special-meeting_06-08-21 Download

Saturday, June 19^th will be our last regular board meeting of the quarter. That meeting starts at 8:30 a.m.

The July meeting will take place on the 10^th of the month (instead of the usual 3^rd Saturday) in deference to the Deathride. That meeting also begins at 8:30 a.m.

ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual Meeting will take place on August 7^th at Turtle Rock Park, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Please note: this location is not yet confirmed so please be on the lookout for a future announcement.

We’ve got several years of minutes to approve, and it will be your chance to hear the latest news on our planning grant, and our future construction grant.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, we’ll be able to have a candid conversation about the current and future state of our water needs. IT’S VITAL that you attend the annual meeting.

MOVING FORWARD

In September, we’ll get back to our normal meeting cadence (i.e. the 3^rd Saturday of the month at 8:30 a.m.).

MEMBERS CAN ATTEND ANY OF THE VIRTUAL MEETINGS by emailing us at markleevillewatercompany@gmail.com for instructions and login information.

Stay safe and thank you for being a MWC Member!