WDRs: Developing an Effective Sanitary Sewer Management Plan Utilizing Innovative GIS Solutions

As California's wastewater collection system infrastructure begins to age, the need to proactively manage this valuable asset becomes increasingly important. The first step in this process is to have a reliable reporting system for Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSOs). Although there are some data systems to record spills and various spill-reporting requirements have been developed, inconsistent requirements and enforcement have led to poor data quality. A few Regional Water Boards have comprehensively tracked SSOs over the last three to five years, and from this information we have been able to determine that the majority of collection systems surveyed have had SSOs within this time period. Both the San Diego and Santa Ana Regional Water Boards have issued WDRs over the last several years to begin regulating wastewater collection systems in an attempt to quantify and reduce SSOs. In fact, 44 out of 46 collection system agencies regulated by the San Diego Regional Water Board have reported spills over the last four and a half years, resulting in 1467 reported SSOs. Twenty-five out of 27 collection system agencies subject to the Santa Ana Regional Water Board's general WDRs reported SSOs between the years of 1999-2004. During this time period, 1012 SSOs were reported.