Greetings Co-owners of the Riebli Mutual Water System-
Members of your board have been proactively meeting with county, state and federal agencies to restore our water system. We are in the process of securing the requisite approvals and assistance to restore temporary water service to the surviving homes while developing a longer term plan to regain full capacity of the system. The fires have overwhelmed the agencies we normally deal with and new state and federal processes and requirements are evolving on a daily basis. Additionally, all the company records were destroyed in the fire and we are working to restore both our business and engineering records.
Here is where we are to date:
Short-term
- PG&E has restored power to the well sites yesterday. Petersen Drilling and Pump will validate the functioning of our pumps within a week of two.
- Board members are in the process of closing the shut-off valves to the homes which is required so we can re-pressurize and test the distribution system.
If you see blue markings in front of your home at your shut-off, then we found it and shut if off. - We may have found a location for a temporary 5,000 gallon tank at the top of Bayberry. We plan to begin excavation and preparation for the tank in the next week or two.
- Once the tank is in place and approved, Petersen Drilling and Pump will come in and connect the tank to our system. Once that occurs, our water engineer will flush the system and begin testing the water.
- Once we receive approval from the water engineer and the state that our water is safe, we can begin reconnecting homes.
- If your home is standing and you want to provide an interim water supply temporarily (via a storage container on your property) prior to being reconnected to the system, please notify Bill Collins or Kevin Baughman if you plan to do this. State regulations require that an approved back-flow device be installed by a contractor licensed and certified to install these devices.
Long-term
Replacing the original tank will take many months to secure the needed engineering and legal approvals and funding. We can not provide a expected timeline at this point.
How you can help
- We don’t have records showing the location of shutoff valves at individual homes. If you don’t have blue marking on the street adjacent to your shut-off valve, then your connection is still open. To date we have covered Graywood, Oakhaven and the upper portion of Bayberry. If you don’t have a mark at your shut-off valve in that area, then we can’t find your valve. Please let us know where it is. Those in the rest of the system we will cover your area next week. If your shut-off valve is not obvious, please send an email to either Bill Collins or Kevin Baughman.
- We may not have everyone’s email or current contact information. Please contact Tom Thelan to confirm or provide updated information.
- If you plan to rebuild please let us know and keep us updated on your approximate time line so we can integrate that into our long term planning.
Thanks and we look forward to hearing the music of hammering nails on wood soon!
Best of Regards,
Riebli Mutual Water Company Board of Directors
NOTE: This message was emailed to all of the Co-owners of the Riebli Mutual Water System on November 11, 2017 at 8:14am. Please check your email message for Bill, Kevin and Tom’s email addresses.