RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - From responding to the water moratorium petition to addressing low levels at the Rio Oso Water Tank, the Rancho Murieta Community Services District directors tackled a range of water issues when it met on March 19. 

Other water topics discussed during the four-hour meeting included the formation of a working group to review data in the draft Integrated Water Master Plan and the adoption of a position supporting the need for a one-year community water supply.

The board also added fee increases to the proposed 2025-26 budget and re-initiated the process to impose a new barcode sticker fee. ( See CSDBoard Reviews Barcode and Rate Increases.)

In other business, the board approved a contract to upgrade the sewer lift station at the Rancho Murieta Country Club, received a report from the board’s ad hoc committee, approved a contract with a facilitator for an upcoming goal-setting workshop, and reviewed monthly staff reports on utilities, security, finance and IT.

Water Moratorium

President Steve Booth addressed the agenda item that was probably of the most interest to the community: “Response to SOLOS Regarding Petition for Water Connection Moratorium.”

The petition drive originated from the July 17 Board meeting. Booth had requested an action item on the agenda to declare a temporary water emergency until the community’s water capacity could be evaluated. Although the board discussed the proposal, it did not take any action. District counsel Patrick Enright noted that the district “isn’t quite there yet” and pointed to other complicating factors.

The following day, John Merchant, vice-president of Save Our Lakes and Open Spaces, voiced his concerns on social media, stating, “CSD doesn’t seem to understand the urgency here.” Several days later, he and SOLOS launched a petition drive calling for a water moratorium, which 2,025 community members ultimately signed. Merchant joined the CSD board on Dec. 6 after running unopposed for a vacant seat.

Save Our Lakes and Open Spaces President Cheryl McElhany presented the petition at the Dec. 18 board meeting. She urged the directors to declare a water emergency under applicable state law to protect the existing water supply. Booth told her that no action could be taken at that meeting as the item was only listed as a discussion topic. However, Booth assured her that the board would consider the petition at a future meeting.

At the March meeting, Booth said, “On behalf of the board, I’d like to thank SOLOS and the impressive number of community members who took the time and effort to prepare and submit the petition the board received at our meeting in December 2024.”

Booth then highlighted several developments since the moratorium petitions were submitted in December. He noted that the Improvements Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee, made up of himself and Director Merchant, have discussed the need to review and update the data in the draft Integrated Water Master Plan.

Booth said that the board would consider forming a working group to carry out that task later in the meeting. If approved, the “refined data” produced by the group would then be available to a new consultant or the board to develop a concrete plan for meeting current and projected water supply needs.

 “Pending resolution of those matters yet to be decided by the board,” Booth said, “neither the Improvements Committee nor the Ad Hoc Committee is prepared to recommend invoking State Water Code Section 350 to impose a moratorium on new water connections, as requested in the petition.”

On the other hand, “Doing so remains an important tool available to the board if a serious shortfall needs to be addressed,” Booth said.

Rio Oso Water Tank

The sharp drop in water levels at the Rio Oso Water Tank during heat waves has been a recurring topic of concern at district meetings since last summer.

The pressurized Rio Oso Tank, which holds 1.2 million gallons, serves the upper zone of houses north of the second Guadalupe Drive. Rio Oso has also been designated as the water tank for the already approved 198-lot Residences subdivision near Stonehouse Park and for the 116-lot Village H in the proposed Rancho North subdivision. The 3-million-gallon Van Vleck Tank uses a gravity system to serve the remainder of the community.

Asked to study the issues with the Rio Oso tank, Joe Domenichelli, the district’s contract engineer, said the long-term solution is to construct a new tank in the upper zone to support current and future water demands as additional homes are built.

However, until a new tank can be constructed, Domenichelli proposed a throttling alternative as an interim solution to help balance water levels between the two existing tanks. The plan involves installing valves that automatically regulate water flow during peak demand periods, particularly in the early morning when upper-zone irrigation is at its highest. This approach would also enable the Rio Oso tank to support an additional 50 dwelling units.

Impressed with the throttling alternative, the Improvements Committee asked the engineer to prepare a proposal for designing the new system, which was added as an action item on the March board agenda.

According to Domenichelli’s proposal, designing the control valve will take 18 weeks before it is ready to bid and will cost $54,954. The work will also involve coordinating with the district’s contract electrician to integrate the new valve into the district’s electronic control system and hiring a subcontractor to conduct a topographic survey and create a base map for the new discharge facility.

The board ultimately voted 4-0 to approve the proposal, setting a budget not to exceed $55,000. Director Tim Maybee was absent from the meeting.

IWMP Working Group

Booth asked Merchant to speak to the agenda item addressing community inquiries about the Integrated Water Master Plan (IWMP) and the formation of a working group to handle questions related to the plan.

“What I suggested initially was that we form a working group to review that data and, using as a template, the questions and comments from Janis Eckard and myself that quarreled with that report through its process,” Merchant said. He added that Eckard and community resident Jim Farrell agreed to join the working group with Operations Director Eric Houston to address those issues.

After Merchant made the motion to form the working group, Director Randy Jenco asked about involving Lisa Maddaus, the engineer who co-authored the Integrated Water Master Plan.

“You said you might be willing to sit down and talk to Lisa,” Jenco said. “If you’re going to put together a group, wouldn’t the idea be to sit down with Lisa and get your questions answered?”

Merchant responded that he first wanted to meet with those who had identified inaccuracies in Maddaus’ data before speaking with her directly.

“Then we can have a conversation. If she has reason to convince us that what we’re saying is incorrect, we can take that under advisement,” Merchant said.

After further exchanges between Jenco and Merchant, Booth called for a vote on the motion to form the working group. Booth, Merchant and Director Linda Butler voted in favor, while Jenco voted against.

Water Reserve Policy

Booth also asked Merchant to address a topic he had placed on the agenda: the adoption of a position that the district should maintain a one-year water supply reserve for current customers and entitled developments. Merchant spoke at length about his reasoning, emphasizing that even if Clementia Reservoir could be used during an extreme drought, it would only provide five to six months of water. He then made the motion to adopt the policy.

Booth proposed two amendments to the motion. The first directed district counsel Enright to explore the process for amending the district’s water rights to Clementia Reservoir.

“I also think we should direct Mr. Houston and Mr. Matulich (Mark Matulich, director of Finance and Administration) to issue an RFP for a geotechnical study on groundwater augmentation of our supply, as we’ve been discussing in the Improvements Committee,” Booth said.

Merchant agreed to the amendments but Jenco pushed back. Jenco said he didn’t see the logic in the move since the district had already spent thousands of dollars on consultants to determine how much water was needed and how to secure additional supply. Jenco argued that adopting an arbitrary policy wouldn’t help clarify the steps that need to be taken. When Booth called for a vote, he, Merchant and Butler voted in favor, while Jenco voted against.