YUIMA WATER HOLDS ITS OWN DURING CRISIS

The following is a report from Linden Burzell, general manager of the Yuima Municipal Water District, which serves a large portion of Pauma Valley:

"Yuima lost no water system facilities to the fire, and adequate supplies to meet health and safety needs were available system-wide throughout the emergency.

A portion of the District did lose SDG&E power, with two main consequences:

(1) power was temporarily interrupted to several chlorinators, resulting in low chlorine levels for short periods during the transition from main power to generators. As a safety precaution, a "Boil Water" order was issued for the District on October 24th, to remain in effect until system-wide testing shows that water at all points is in compliance with health standards. We expect to be able to cancel the order on or about Thursday, 1 November.

(2) backup power to some pump stations was adequate for only 50% operation -- hence the mandatory restriction on irrigation from Tuesday through Monday (23-29 October) in order to protect water in storage for health and safety needs. The temporary restrictions on irrigation were lifted this morning, Monday the 29th, when main power was restored.

We have had second-hand reports of some other issues in the mutual water companies that are not served or managed by Yuima; first-hand updates on the mutuals should probably come directly from Rancho Estates Mutual Water Company (contact: J.P. Bartkowski - 473-5821) and Pauma Valley Mutual Water Company (contact: Earl Rutz - 742-3443).

Call or email if you need more details."