The American Valley Community Service District points out that it has been seven years since it was formed through the consolidation of two Quincy-area districts, and offers customers an update on the district’s current operations. “While most of us don’t think twice when we turn on a faucet or flush our toilet, those everyday activities have an entire backstory that most of us aren’t aware of,” said AVCSD personnel.
Originally only a water district, the East Quincy Services District offered sewer service to its customers in 1997 by sending its residents’ sewage to the Quincy Community Service District, which operated the wastewater treatment plant. The two-district system existed for decades, but the overlap of services by having two utility districts in such a low-population area led to their eventual consolidation: seven years ago, the East Quincy district merged with the Quincy district to form the American Valley Community Service District, the community’s current provider of both water and sewer services.
Since consolidation, much has been accomplished on behalf of district customers, not the least of which was the building of a new wastewater treatment plant, said AVCSD. Because of the age of Quincy’s former sewer plant, the state required the district to build a new plant, one that would conform to state discharge regulations.
The new plant was built over the top of the existing plant so that there would be no interruption of service to residents, said AVCSD. To finance the project, the district obtained both grants and loans in order to cover the cost, which was $44 million.
AVCSD continues to seek operational improvements and efficiencies, say staff. Historically, monthly meter readings by field staff have taken five days. The district is in the process of transitioning to a system of electronic reading that doesn’t require opening a meter box and manually writing down numbers. Instead, district trucks are equipped with receivers that record customer usage as they drive by.
Staff point out that this approach not only frees up employee time to handle general maintenance, service calls and repairs but it also helps the district notify customers more quickly of unusually high usage that can indicate leakage on their side of the meter.
AVCSD is regulated by the State Water Resources Control Board for both drinking water and wastewater treatment standards. That agency also encourages water conservation efforts in periods of extreme drought. The American Valley water supply contains no additives, such as chlorine or fluoride, and staff test water quality weekly. Summary reports on water quality are sent to ratepayers annually.
Because the district is a regulated, nonprofit special district, it is legally bound by the regulatory principle of “cost of service,” said staff. That means AVCSD can charge customers only what it costs to operate and maintain its systems, which includes maintaining adequate reserves for emergencies. Regarding financial management of the district, AVCSD has always passed its annual audit, conducted by a third-party outside financial auditing company, said the district.
More public information is available at the AVCSD office by calling 530-283-0836 or by visiting https://www.americanvalleycsd.com.
