In an addition to its monthly board meeting, Pine Cove Water District directors toured the new pumping infrastructure installed at the highway wells off Highway 243, south of the district office. The new pumps will provide a 400-gallon per minute flow from Dutch Flat to the tanks atop Rocky Point, which will give the district flexibility in water movement, storage and distribution, especially in the event of a natural disaster.
The new pumps are housed in a soundproof structure, which the district staff constructed. Describing the new infrastructure, PCWD General Manager Jerry Holldber said, “We fulfilled a promise in getting this built. This can be all generator-powered if needed.” Holldber expects the new pumps to be online by summer of this year.
February well production was 11 percent more than the 2011 and 2010 levels. But for the first two months of the year, production was about 10 percent less than the same period in 2011. The groundwater level of monitoring Well No. 10 is down 2 feet in a month, demonstrating a slight, but continuing decline.
Holldber also reported to the board that he had meet with a group of seniors, the Forest Folk, to discuss the possibility of a community garden on Dutch Flat land jointly owned by Pine Cove and the Idyllwild water districts. While there are still many unanswered questions about the project, Holldber said that if those questions could be answered to his satisfaction, he would be favorably disposed toward the project.
The board tabled action until its next meeting on a resolution that would place the district in compliance with state regulations. The resolution includes employee’s right to organize for representation and negotiate on all matters involving employer-employee relations (hours, wages, and other terms and conditions). Board members wanted more time to review the resolution, which, if passed, would make the district compliant with California Government Code Section 3507, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.
