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Our Mission Statement: To sensitively manage the natural resources entrusted to our care, to provide the people of Montara and Moss Beach with reliable, high-quality water, wastewater, and trash disposal services at an equitable price, and to ensure the fiscal and environmental vitality of the district for future generations.

Regular meetings are 7:30PM on the first and third Thursday of each month at the district office at 8888 Cabrillo Hwy, next to Pt Montara Lighthouse and Hostel.

AGENDAS

AgendaPacket (PDF)Video
August 21
August 7
July 17
July 1 (replacing July 3)
June 26 CCWD water workshop
June 19
June 19 LAFCo
June 17 Budget
June 5
May 15
May 1
(closed session 5:30)
April 17
(closed session 5:30)
April 3
(closed session 5:30)		 video
March 20 searchable 12 MB video
March 6 searchable 6 MB video
February 21 video Continued to
February 26, 7PM
February 7 video
January 17 video
January 3 searchable 10 MB video

We post agendas before each board meeting:

  • Montara post office
  • Moss Beach post office
  • the bulletin board in front of the MWSD office
  • if all goes well, here on the web site the Monday before the Board meeting
MWSD is a member of Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), the agency that collects and cleans our Coastside community's wastewater before it enters the ocean. SAM meets monthly on the 4th Monday at 7:30pm. Bob Ptacek and Scott Boyd presently serve as SAM board members. Jim Harvey serves as the SAM alternate.

MWSD works with Seacoast Disposal for trash pickup and waste hauling. http://seacoast-disposal.com/

Changes that happened in 2007 include:
  • Green waste collection increased to twice a month
  • Bulky goods collection increased to three times per year
  • A new quarterly drop off service locally

Visit County Solid Waste Department for information about recycling, composting, etc.

District Manager
• George Irving

Directors
• Paul Perkovic, President, SAM alternate
• Jim Harvey, President pro tem, SAM representative
• Scott Boyd, Secretary, SAM representative
• Bob Ptacek, Treasurer
• Kathryn Slater-Carter

Frequently Asked Questions – info about the district, the directors, how to save money, and other interesting items!

Water & Sanitary Code updated June 2006 (PDF, 1.1MB)

Current fee schedule (PDF, 148K)

Remodeling Permit information/application (PDF, 212K)

Standard Sewer Specifications – the entire standard specifications describing standards for construction for all District sewage facilities (i.e., sewer laterals, mains, etc.).

Standard Specifications Drawings – Standard Drawing 1 (SD 1) through Standard Drawing 16 (SD 16).

Standard Water Specifications – the entire standard specifications describing standards for construction for all District water facilities. (536KB PDF)

Water System Master Plan (2.3MB PDF)

Information packet for those building a new home (PDF, 738K)

Economic analysis -- Bartle Wells, Independent Public Finance Advisors, prepared a connection charge review when the District was preparing to lift the sewer moratorium some years back. The board was concerned that expansion costs be apportioned appropriately to those receiving the benefits.

BUDGET -- The annual operating and capital budgets are developed beginning in April for the coming fiscal year which extends from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. The Board has a Budget Committee consisting of two Board members that meet in a noticed special meeting. The Sewer Service Charges that will levied against each property will be based on the adopted budget.

Annual Connection Charge Report -- MWSD maintains four funds tracking revenue received from property owners for sewer connection or water connection charges. Revenue to these funds results from amounts collected for new sewer service connections, addition of fixture units to an existing sewer service connection, or new water service connections (private fire protection (PFP) connections).

Refund Policy -- Click here to see the District's guidelines for requesting a refund to the Sewer Service Charge.

MONTARA WATER & SANITARY DISTRICT

 
Please join us for MWSD's 50th anniversary celebration!
Sunday August 24. Please RSVP by clicking here.


MWSD's new solar installation
Solar roof on water tank
  • Annual kWh production = 7,600 kWH/yr
    • ÊÊ
  • Avoided PG&E Costs = approximately $1,200/yr
    • ÊÊ
  • Approximate lbs of CO2 to atmosphere avoided = 10,000 lb CO2/yr
    • ÊÊ
  • Approximate equivalent cars off the road = ~1 typical passenger car @ 12,000 miles/yr
    • ÊÊ
  • CO2 removal equivalent to planting ~ 1.5 acres of trees
    • ÊÊ
  • California Solar Initiative Rebate = $11,900 (apr. / due Q3 08)
SMCAlert
Countywide Community Alert System
The County of San Mateo recently instituted what is called ÒSMC AlertÓ. This is an alert notification system used to immediately contact anyone who signs up during urgent or emergency situations with useful information and updates by sending text messages to their:
  • email accounts (home, work, school, etc.)
  • cell phones
  • pagers
  • Smart phones/handheld devices

When an incident or emergency occurs, authorized senders instantly notify registrants. Registration is free; text message charges may apply depending on the carrier and plan and will not be reimbursed by cities, districts, or the County.

Each person may sign up for a SMC Alert account by going to http://www.smcalert.info. The alerts sent out may include life safety, fire, weather, accidents involving utilities or roadways, team activation notifications, or disaster notification such as a terrorist attack. This is a totally voluntary program in which only those who register will be notified.

SMC Alert uses the text messaging feature of a cell phone to deliver alerts. The alerts come across like a page on a pager. All cell phone carriers, and paging companies, offer text messaging. Nearly all phones purchased within the past few years are text messaging capable. You may have two devices and two e-mail addresses for your SMC Alert account. You may also subscribe to RSS feed to see all the latest alerts directly on your desktop.

lens.jpg
Fall 2007 Newsletter (PDF 664K)
Fall 2006 Newsletter (PDF 393K)
Spring 2006 Newsletter (PDF 256K)
Fall 2005 Newsletter (PDF 689K)
Spring 2005 Newsletter (PDF 1.4M)
Fall 2004 Newsletter (PDF 337K)

One person's trash is another person's treasure. Learn about finding good homes for things you no longer need, or finding items you might want. It's called Freecycle.

REBATES: Low-flow toilets & washing machine rebates are here!
Learn more (PDF 334K)
Qualifying washers (PDF 116K)

Want to pay your water bill by automatic withdrawal from your checking account? Download this form ( PDF).

Be sewer smart! Prevent sewer backups this rainy season. Learn more!

Drip Calculator
Measure and Estimate Water Wasted Due to Leaks.

You might be surprised how much a slow leak costs. Did you know that your sewer service charges are based on your water usage during the rainy season? Fixing leaks saves money (and water).

"Keeping our environment clean"

Learn about PG&E energy efficiency rebates.

May 2008 Annual water consumer confidence report (for calendar 2007) download. (479KB PDF)

A little water system history from a Citizens Utilities document dated 11/97
Water service in this area was commenced in 1907 by subdividers to facilitate the sales of real estate. The water system properties were acquired by the Public Utilities California Corporation in 1928, which then changed names to Citizens Utilities Company of California in 1949. In 1950, Citizens sold its properties in the Half Moon Bay area and a portion of the properties in the Moss Beach area to Coastside County Water District. In 1958, CUCC acquired a water system from the Montara School District that was originally installed by the U. S. Navy in 1944.
Prop 218 Sewer Rate hearing notice:
letter sent to property owners (PDF 552K)
Date: Thursday, July 5, 2007
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Boardroom
A recent California Supreme Court ruling changes the way water rates are set, requiring Prop 218 notices for any changes. MWSD is complying by estimating future needs, notifying our ratepayers, and providing opportunity for community feedback. This notice 3 MB from our District Manager George Irving lays out the details and some background on the effects of the court's ruling.
More information and background (2MB PDF) regarding the proposed water rate increases.
FY 2006-2007 Budget (6M PDF)
Draft EIR: Public Works Plan Phase I (22MB PDF)
County LCP Update Report. (9.5MB PDF)
The board's Solid Waste ad hoc committee is reviewing high tipping fees paid by Midcoast solid waste disposal companies. The County's agreement with BFI aka Allied Waste)" (3 MB reduces fees substantially for Allied Waste.
Learn more about the hydrogeology of our area. (1.3MB PDF) Poster suitable for classroom use!
Seal Cove geologic report, August 2006, 15 pages.
Stage 5 Water Warning Cancelled
On June 22, 2006 we posted a Stage 5 Water Alert and asked you to restrict the use of water while the District renovated one of its principal wells (Wagner Well). The renovation has now been successfully completed and is restored to full service. It is now producing about 80 gallons per minute which is almost twice what is was before the renovation.

Thanks for the terrific job everyone did to conserve water during this time!

Water Conservation
Please continue to conserve water whenever possible. We continue to offer rebates for low-flow toilets and high-efficiency washing machines. Please go on-line or call the office (363-3545) for a single-page application.

We are attempting to obtain California Coastal Commission approval for a new well (Alta Vista Well) which will improve our water supply. Please refer to our Spring 2006 newsletter (The Lens) for details on how you can help by sending letters of support to the Commission.

Learn about the Coastal Ocean Currents Monitoring Program. The District is happy to be participating in this exciting project to help learn about how ocean currents move water along the coastline.
An example of such a monitoring site.
Spring 2005 Community Water Workshop
Keith Mangold's presentation to the board about the Pilarcitos Creek watershed.

Fire flow deficiencies EIR scoping presentation
928K PDF

June 2006 Annual water consumer confidence report (for calendar 2005) download. (636KB PDF)

The slides from the presentation of our Draft Water Plan are available for download. (600KB PDF)

As we begin the process of improving the water system, a big thanks to all who joined us for the November 8th community meeting. The slides are available for download. 1.6 MB

Balance Hydrologics is helping us with our efforts to locate more water. Want to learn more about the hydrology of our area? Here's a PDF report covering a lot of their research.

Cal-Am's 2002 water quality report (PDFs: background, data). The California Department of Health Services notes that our water meets all state standards for safe drinking water.

Water Conservation
Our community excels at water conservation. There's never enough to waste.

As of August 1, 2003, Montara Water & Sanitary District now operates the former Cal-Am Montara water district. We reached agreement to acquire the system in May.

A bit of history...

The District sold $17.5M in bonds to finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of the water system.

MSD's board placed a bond measure on the November 2001 ballot. With more than an 80% vote, the voters of Montara Moss Beach authorized the issue of bonds (up to $19M) to purchase and rehabilitate the water system. You can read more about the bond measure at the League of Women Voters site.

American Water Works completed purchase of the water system from Citizen's Utilities in January 2002, and then turned around and sold to German conglomerate RWE. The PUC approved their application, with the condition that they divest to a public agency like MSD.

Water Rates Were Going Up
Citizen's Utilities proposed a Master Plan update to increase water rates by 83%. After extensive work by MSD, the PUC approved a markedly cheaper plan, with rates to go up "only" 42%. The short story is right here: Proposed water rate schedule (14KB)