Tuolumne Utilities District

TUD is excited and proud to announce the successful acquisition of the USDA Forst Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant, a crucial step in fortifying our community against the escalating threat of wildfires. This grant, totaling $249,927 will allow TUD to develop a comprehensive Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan- a roadmap for addressing local wildfire risk. A key focus of the grant will be to establish a Wildfire Protection Draft-Points Plan, strategically identifying raw water fire draft-points throughout the district.

Notably, the driving force behind securing this vital funding was Board Vice President, Ron Ringen and Board Director, Barbara B***n (who served as Board President at the time of the grant application), both dedicated advocates for the community’s safety. Their commitment and leadership were pivotal in navigating the grant pursuit process, showcasing TUD’s proactive approach to wildfire prevention.

Vice President Ringen expressed his excitement stating, “I’m just thrilled that we are going to be getting that grant to finally accomplish our goal, which will benefit the entire community. By improving firefighter’s access to untreated water sources, we preserve the system’s potable water for critical drinking and sanitary purposes.”

Director B***n emphasized the significance of this plan stating, “This plan will maximize TUD's ability to make gravity-fed, non-potable, raw water available for emergency fire response while reducing the risk of fire to our water infrastructure through vegetation management. TUD pulled together a stellar team including Rick Lind from EN2 out of Placerville and Biology Conservation Institute who worked with post-fire recovery plans for Paradise. It is critical that we protect our green infrastructure for wildlife while making non-potable water available. It all works together, and I hope the insurance companies take these things into consideration.”

The District is excited to receive this funding and looks forward to engaging the community and its agency partners to identify shared wildfire concerns and begin prioritizing risk-reducing actions to mitigate the risk of wildfire.

During extremely cold weather or winter storms, staying warm and safe can be a challenge. Winter storms bring cold temperatures, power failures, water outages, loss of communication services and icy roads. To keep yourself and your loved ones safe, prepare now before winter hits. Building an emergency water supply that meets your family’s needs could help you in the future. Here are some tips to help you prepare:
• Store enough bottled water for everyone in your household, including pets. A household should store 1 gallon for each person and pet for 3 days.
• Make sure to check expiration dates on store-bought bottled water throughout the year and replace as needed. If you fill your own containers, store water in a cool, dark place and replace the water every six months.
• Only drink clean water. If you run out of safe drinking water in an emergency, you can boil water for use. Bring water to a rolling boil for one minute and let water cool naturally before using or drinking.
Get more info on emergency preparedness and response from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website at https://emergency.cdc.gov./

TUD would like to stress the importance of winterizing pipes to its customers and readers. Winterizing is crucial to protect your homes pipes from freezing in the winter, as frozen pipes can lead to water damage and costly repairs. For more information and tips on how to winterize your home, visit: https://tudwater.com/customer-service/winterize/

Tuolumne Utilities District would like to advise the public that due to an emergency water mainline repair, there will be a temporary full road closure Tuesday, November 28th, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on S. Gold St. between State St. and Parrotts Ferry Rd. The affected area will be closed to all traffic for the duration of the repair.

Tuolumne Utilities District would like to advise the public that due to an emergency sewer line repair, there will be a temporary full road closure Tuesday, November 21st, 2023, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Green St. between Bradford St. and Linoberg St. The affected area will be closed to all traffic for the duration of the repair.

TUD continues to work diligently to minimize any inconvenience to our customers. We appreciate your patience as repairs are being made.

Happy World Kindness Day! Regularly doing simple acts of kindness is good for you. Research shows that helping others can reduce stress and improve our emotional well-being and even benefits our physical health. Doing good does you good! For ideas about easy good deeds that benefit your health, visit https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/world-kindness-day

Mark your calendar! Daylight savings time ends this Sunday, November 5th. As we “fall back” an hour, remember to adjust your irrigation as the days get shorter and cooler.

rotect Your Pipes from a Plumbing Nightmare this Halloween. Halloween is a time for tricks, treats, and of course, pumpkin carving. Be sure to dispose of your pumpkin guts and seeds properly. Never put them down your sink or flush them down the toilet.
Pumpkin guts are sticky, seedy, and stringy and can stick to the inside of your pipes or wrap around the blades in your garbage disposal creating a terrifying clog. Follow these tips to save your pipes from horror this Halloween:
• Carve your pumpkins on newspaper or garbage bags for an easy clean up. You can easily wrap your guts up with the paper and throw them in a trash or add them to a compost pile.
• Pile pumpkin guts into a bowl so you can separate the seeds and pulp for cooking tasty treats.
• Wash the sticky guts off your hands using an outside spigot or wipe them down with a paper towel until the pumpkin is completely removed before washing your hands in the sink.
Happy Halloween from TUD. We hope you have a frightfully good time!

Tuolumne County is coordinating a Prescription "Take-Back Day" this Saturday. The "Take-Back Day" goal is to provide safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposal of prescription medications. Unused or expired medicine should never be flushed or poured down the drain. Potentially dangerous pharmaceutical substances can enter the water supply via sinks, toilets or trash disposals. The best way to dispose of unused medications is to bring them to the “Take-Back Day” being held by Tuolumne County this Saturday, October 28, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Tuolumne County Library on Greenley Rd. in Sonora. For more information about “Take-Back Day,” visit the Tuolumne County website: Prescription Drug Drop Boxes | Tuolumne County, CA - Official Website

Remember to keep flushable wipes out of the pipes. They can damage your plumbing at home and TUD’s wastewater collection systems.

TUD would like to inform the public that due to a water mainline repair, there will be a temporary road closure tomorrow, October 25, 2023, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on N. Sunshine Rd. from Crestview Dr. to Mono Vista Rd. During the repair, motorists can expect one-way traffic controls with flaggers in place and may experience up to 10-minute delays. Please take an alternative route if possible.

TUD continues to work diligently to minimize any inconvenience to our customers. We appreciate your patience as repairs are being made. For more information, contact our office at (209) 532-5536 or monitor our website at www.tudwater for the latest updates.

TUD would like to thank everyone who attended the Regional Sewer System Tour this week. It was a great opportunity to learn about this past, present, and future of Tuolumne County’s wastewater management system. During the tour, we shared updates about the new plant, which is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2024. Stay tuned for more updates on our progress and future events.

Can you imagine a day without water? While most of us don’t think about it, almost everything we do, and love involves water. Without water, there is no morning coffee, no flushing the toilet or washing clothes, no watering plants or growing fresh produce and no hydrants to help put out fires. Although essential, few people realize what it takes to treat and deliver drinking water every day or how wastewater is treated so it can be safely reused or returned to the environment. For most of Tuolumne County, Tuolumne Utilities District is your reliable water and wastewater provider. Delivering safe, reliable drinking water to the residents and businesses in our community is our highest priority. Imagine a Day Without Water is a national day of recognizing the importance and value of water. To learn more: http://www.thevalueofwater.org/

TUD is Hiring- Assistant Engineer
Exciting opportunity for rewarding career! Provides professional engineering services for the planning, design, construction and maintenance of water and wastewater facilities, administers agreements and contracts, system optimization and much more!
To learn more and apply for this exciting career opportunity, please visit: https://tudwater.com/careers/job-openings/.

TUD has contracted with Ragsdale and Son, Inc. for road patch paving on Sommette Rd. and Eden Ln. Work is scheduled to take place on Sommette Rd. on Monday, October 16th, 2023, and on Eden Ln. on Tuesday, October 17th, 2023, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

During this time, one-way traffic controls will be in place. Travelers may experience up to a 10-minute delay. Motorists are advised to take an alternative route if possible.

Tuolumne Utilities District is proud to honor its hard-working employees October 7th through 15th, 2023 as part of California’s annual Water Professionals Appreciation Week.
Water Professionals Appreciation Week was established in 2017 by Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 80, by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa). The measure was sponsored by a coalition of water associations led by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and including WateReuse California, California Municipal Utilities Association, California Association of Sanitation Agencies, and the California Water Association. Under SCR 80, the annually designated week begins on the first Saturday of October and ends on the Sunday of the following weekend.
The water industry offers a wide variety of rewarding career opportunities in water and wastewater treatment and distribution, construction, engineering, biology, finance, business administration, law, communications and many more types of positions in high-demand occupations. Thousands of water, wastewater and recycled water industry professionals in the state, including the 80 staff members working for the District, dedicate their careers to keeping drinking water, recycled water and treated wastewater safe and reliable for Californians.
The District extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to its employees and the water and wastewater professionals who work 24/7 to provide excellent essential services to our community every day and accordingly declares October 7-15, 2023, Water Professionals Appreciation Week.
The TUD Board of Directors adopted a resolution expressing gratitude and appreciation for its employees in honor of Water Professionals Appreciation Week at its September 26, 2023, Board meeting.

TUD crews are scheduled to install a new water mainline along Confidence Rd. as part of the Mt. Provo Transmission and Intertie Project. Work is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, and will take place between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Work is expected to be completed by November 30, 2023.

During this time, one-way traffic controls will be in place on Confidence Rd., between Sunset Drive and Sunrise Drive. Travelers can expect up to a 10-minute delay. Motorists are advised to take an alternative route if possible.

The Mt. Provo Water Transmission Project includes installing approximately 14,000 lineal feet of 8-inch water main pipeline, two pressure reducing stations and 10 new fire hydrants on Mt. Provo Road in the Ponderosa Hills area. This project is funded by a $2.8 million dollar grant that was awarded to TUD by the Department of Water Resources and will serve as one of the main arteries of the district’s water transmission system from the future Sierra Pines Regional Water Treatment Facility located in Twain Harte.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation during the construction of this project. For more information, contact our office at (209) 532-5536.

TUD has released its quarterly issue of the On Tap Newsletter October-December 2023. Topics in this newsletter include:
• Fall Ditch Outage
• Holiday Grease Disposal
• Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Planning
• TUD Recipient of Two Grant Awards
• General Manager's Corner with Don Perkins
Click this link to open: https://tudwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TUD-Newsletter-October-December-2023-v3.pdf

The smell of warm coffee in the morning is one reason to love water. Sunday is National Coffee Day! What’s your favorite fall drink?

The Tuolumne Utilities District is scheduled to perform sanitary sewer collection system flushing in three locations of its service area on Thursday, September 21, 2023. The work is scheduled to occur between the hours of 5:00 a.m.to 3:30 p.m. in the following locations:

• Soulsbyville Rd., between Longeway Rd. and Highway 108
• Sanguinetti Rd., between Greenley Rd. and Mono Way
• Snell St., between School St. and Calaveras Way

One-way traffic controls will be in place during flushing operations. Travelers can expect up to a 5-minute delay. During this time, motorists are advised to take alternate routes, if possible.

Sanitary sewer flushing is a routine maintenance activity used to improve pipe flow by removing debris along the interior of the pipe. TUD thanks you for your cooperation as we perform this essential collection system maintenance.

For more information, contact our office at (209) 532-5536.

When assembling your go bag, make sure to include essentials such as a first aid kit, a portable radio, a flashlight, spare batteries, a mobile phone charger, snacks, and water. Remember to also take your cell phone and keys with you if you need to evacuate swiftly. Having a ready-to-go emergency kit will guarantee that you have the vital items prepared for a speedy evacuation. To access a comprehensive list of items to include in your go bag, please visit the following link: https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-set/emergency-supply-kit/

The Tuolumne Fire Safe Council is looking for input from the whole community to better prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from future wildfires. Please take a moment to help make Tuolumne County more resilient to wildfires by filling out a short feedback form. Feedback is due by Friday, September 8th.
https://cwpp.tuolumnefiresafe.org/

September is National Preparedness Month and a great time to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. Tuolumne Utilities District encourages you to stay informed, plan, and build an emergency kit to be prepared for emergencies. To learn more about preparing for an emergency and for some helpful tips, visit us at: https://tudwater.com/customer-service/emergency/