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Staff Report.Water Service Interruption Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Parks and Public Works Director 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832 www.losgatosca.gov TOWN OF LOS GATOS COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: 11/01/2022 ITEM NO: 8 DATE: October 24, 2022 TO: Mayor and Town Council FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager SUBJECT: Discuss the Water Service Interruption Associated with the San Jose Water Company Villa Avenue Improvements RECOMMENDATION: Discuss the water service interruption associated with the San Jose Water Company Villa Avenue improvements. BACKGROUND: In June 2022, the Department of Parks and Public Works (PPW) issued an Encroachment Permit to the San Jose Water Company (SJW) and its contractor(s) to replace aging water main lines on Villa Avenue, Jackson Street, Highland Avenue, Los Gatos Blvd., and Alpine Avenue. Construction started in late June and is expected to be completed in Spring 2023. SJW and its contractors agreed to a traffic management plan and public outreach to affected residences and businesses that was also approved by PPW. SJW is the water utility for all of Los Gatos. It is an independent company, overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission. The Town has a long, collaborative relationship with SJW. This agenda item is intended to give all parties affected by a recent water service outage an opportunity to debrief and identify lessons learned. John Tang, SJW Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations, will attend the Council meeting to provide additional information, answer questions, and listen to the discussion. PAGE 2 OF 4 SUBJECT: Water Service Interruption DATE: October 24, 2022 DISCUSSION: On the afternoon of October 20, the contractors ruptured an unmarked water service connected to a water main in Villa Avenue, shutting down water service to the Town Library and residents in the vicinity. At the time, the contractors informed the Town that the repair was expected to be complete in two to four hours. Library patrons and staff were advised to use the restrooms at Town Hall for the remainder of the day. Town staff was unaware that residents were affected. Early Friday morning, Town staff learned that the repair work was not complete and that the water service outage extended beyond the Library to 300 households, all of whom had been without water overnight. Residents began calling the Town and seeking outage information. Town staff reached SJW engineers mid-morning and learned that when the incident first occurred SJW assumed it would be a relatively quick and simple repair. This is why they did not move to emergency measures earlier. The repair proved more challenging due to the age of the water main and its condition requiring SJW crews to work through the night. Town staff requested that SJW contact all affected customers, make potable water available, and offered the use of Town property as a potential distribution point. Around 10:15 a.m., a pallet of bottled water was available on Villa Avenue and SJW was distributing to residents that expressed need. Town Hall and PPW Offices were continuing to get calls and residents were informed about the available water. For those residents who requested a delivery, a specific SJW phone number was provided in addition to the SJW customer service line. SJW was also updating its website to notify customers that bottled water was available and to provide an estimated time for service restoration. As Town staff answered questions by phone, residents posted that information on Nextdoor. Residents were also informing the Town that the outage was larger than 300 households and on streets not identified by SJW in their updates. By mid-day, two pallets of bottled water were delivered and stored in parking places near Villa in the main Town Hall/Library parking lot. SJW informed the Town that they had gone door to door to notify residents of the situation. SJW began staffing the area 24 hours a day. By 6:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, water service was restored with a boil water notice, advising to boil the water before drinking it or using it for food preparation. The water was safe to use for washing, cleaning, and showering. SJW staff continued to distribute water and answer resident questions all weekend at the Town Hall/Library parking lot. PAGE 3 OF 4 SUBJECT: Water Service Interruption DATE: October 24, 2022 DISCUSSION (continued): Despite these efforts, residents were continuing to reach out to the Town. When Town staff saw the map posted on the SJW website of the geographic extent of the boil water notice (see map on the next page), SJW informed the Town that 600 customers were affected. Town staff recognized that it needed to supplement SJW communications with its own updates to the Town website and prepare social media messages, including the Friday What’s New email blast. Town staff retweeted and posted the SJW boil water notice tweets/posts throughout the weekend on Town social media channels. Subsequently, we learned that we should have provided the geographical area so as not to unduly alarm the entire Los Gatos jurisdiction. SJW Water Quality staff collected water quality samples from 10 locations each on Friday night and again on Saturday night to ensure water in the affected services area meets state and federal drinking water requirements. Sample results were submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water, which evaluated the water quality samples before lifting the boil water notice. The boil water notice was lifted on Monday, October 24 around 4:30 p.m. PAGE 4 OF 4 SUBJECT: Water Service Interruption DATE: October 24, 2022 CONCLUSION: Emergency communications is a critical function for government and all utilities providing critical infrastructure to the public. Town staff is updating its communication protocols in light of this recent experience. We look forward to hearing from Town residents, SJW, and the Town Council regarding lessons learned from this experience. This discussion will help the Town further refine its communications protocols to better inform residents of incidents in Los Gatos and provide useful information as an incident is unfolding. COORDINATION: This agenda item was coordinated with the Department of Parks and Public Works, the Town Manager’s Office, and the San Jose Water Company. FISCAL IMPACT: The discussion of the water service interruption and lessons learned has no fiscal impact. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: The discussion is not a project defined under the California Environmental Quality Act, and no further action is required.