A message from Markleeville Water Company President, Mary Young:
Hi Members,
As you’ve probably noticed, stream flows are high now that the snow has finally melted. Although the additional moisture is good news for the long term, the current high flows are causing problems for our surface water system.
Debris in the water, high turbidity, entrained sand, and decomposed granite in the raw water impact the intake and the treatment process.
Because of these issues we are restricted to well water.
And so, we are asking you to limit water use to domestic use, and NOT TO DO ANY outdoor watering.
When that changes we’ll be sure to post an update here.
Thank you for your help. Working together we can all meet our domestic water needs.
January was a month to remember, certainly. We have been on well water since December and thanks to you, our members, and your conservation efforts, and additionally, due to the fact that there isn’t a lot of watering to be done since everything is covered in snow or ice, our production remains stable and consistent.
We are now producing water and the tanks are full!
It took a bit of work to clear the mud, silt and sand from the system, due to last week’s thunderstorm activity, but that work was completed yesterday.
We do ask that members refrain from outdoor watering this week in order to give the entire system time to equalize.
Anyone in the downtown area that needs to hose down or power wash their residence or business, however, is free to do so.
Thank you for your conservation efforts over this past week, and for your continued efforts over the next few days.
Due to yesterday’s thunderstorms, and the over two (2) inches of rain that we received in about an hour, we’ve had to switch over to wells completely.
Since this substantially lowers the amount of water available, our Operator, Buck McLelland, is requiring all members to stop outside watering until further notice.
All other Water Use Rules and Guidelines, posted July 23, 2022, remain in effect.
Those guidelines, by the way, can be viewed on, and downloaded from, our Important Documents page.
At the quarterly board meeting last Saturday, the Board of Directors updated the rules and guidelines.
Effective today, the restrictions that were in place post-Tamarack Firehave been rolled back.
You can download a copy of the current rules and guidelines from our Important Documents page.
A couple items of note:
Since pressure or power washing can put a signifcant load on the system depending on time of day, it is not allowed w/o specific permission. Please fill out the form on our Contact Us page and someone will contact you.
Rain events affect the processing of water. When the turbidity-levels get too high in the creek we have to switch over to well water and that lessens the amount of water that can be produced.
It’s likely, based on drought predictions for CA, that more restrictive rules and guidelines will need to be put in place.
We will make that determination at the June meeting, and encourage your attendance at that meeting, as well as all meetings.
Email us at markleevillewatercompany@gmail.com in order to RSVP for any meeting, or if you have any questions.
Our next meeting is Saturday, April 16th, at 8:30 a.m., and it will be held at the Markleeville Library AND via Zoom.
Please RSVP by emailing us at markleevillewatercompany@gmail.com.
While we will be discussing water conservation measures moving forward we want to remind you that last year’s landscape watering guidelines, as part of the Fire Related Mandatory Conservation Plan, remain in effect.
Thanks for your continued conservation efforts!
We look forward to seeing you either in-person or via Zoom in a couple weeks!
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.
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.
Markleeville Water Company 