Can you explain what the Humboldt County Services District does? How does it affect the average Humboldt County resident? And what role(s) do the board of directors play regarding it?

— Jessica

Responses

Gregg Gardiner

Jessica, thank you for the question.

First, a small clarification: HCSD is the Humboldt Community Services District, an independent special district and not a department of Humboldt County government.

For the people who live within the District, HCSD provides some of the most basic services we depend on every day: delivering safe drinking water and collecting wastewater for treatment. The District is also responsible for maintaining the infrastructure necessary to provide those services reliably.

That is a substantial system. HCSD currently maintains 114 miles of water mains, 73 miles of sewer mains, 10 water storage tanks with a combined capacity of 5 million gallons, 12 water booster stations, and 28 sewer lift stations.

For the average HCSD ratepayer, the District affects something very practical: when you turn on your faucet, you expect clean water to come out; when you flush your toilet, you expect the wastewater to go away. Most people understandably don’t think very much about the miles of pipes, pumps, tanks and other infrastructure behind those services until something goes wrong.

The five elected members of the Board of Directors do not operate that system day to day. We hire and oversee the General Manager, establish policy, approve budgets and capital improvement plans, set water and sewer rates and fees, and make the long-term financial decisions necessary to maintain and replace the District’s infrastructure.

I believe one of the Board’s most important responsibilities is looking beyond the next year’s budget. Water and sewer infrastructure lasts for decades, and replacing it is enormously expensive. We need to plan well ahead, maintain appropriate reserves, aggressively pursue grants and low-interest government financing, and make responsible decisions about how those long-term costs are shared.

The Board also has an important responsibility to the public: transparency and accountability. These are public dollars, and ratepayers deserve to understand why we are spending them, what projects are being undertaken, and why their rates are changing.

I have served on the HCSD Board for many years, and I continue to believe our job is fairly simple to describe even though it can be difficult to accomplish: provide reliable water and sewer service, protect the infrastructure entrusted to us, plan responsibly for the future, and never forget that the money we spend comes from the people we serve.

Thank you for asking.

Julie Ryan

Hello Jessica,

Thank you for being an engaged citizen and asking a great question.

Humboldt Community Services District provides water, and wastewater services to households and businesses in the district. We all benefit by sharing infrastructure that delivers safe drinking water and sewer services that keep our community clean. The role of the board is to govern in a fair and judicious manner by complying with all applicable local, state, and federal laws and policies.

HCSD serves 8,000 households and 300 businesses (20,00 individuals) in unincorporated Humboldt County adjacent to Eureka. HCSD provides water and or wastewater to most households; there are some properties on HCSD water and septic systems. HCSD also provides streetlights to a few neighborhoods.

The impact of HCSD on the average resident is that we have access to safe clean water when we turn on the tap and wastewater services which prevent sanitation issues. Two thirds of the water comes from the Ruth Lake via Baduwa’t or Mad River purchased through the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District and the City of Eureka. The rest of the water comes from aquifers located in the district. The water you drink undergoes routine testing to assure a high quality of safety. 

We all benefit from efficient wastewater services that keep homes and businesses safe and sanitary. Can you imagine the cost and labor involved for every household to maintain it’s own well and septic system? It would be impossible for apartment dwellers and anyone living on a city lot. Sharing the use and responsibility of the system, improves our health and safety plus we have the convenience of instant clean water and instant waste removal. HCSD wastewater flows to the treatment plant which it shares with the City of Eureka.

Board governance responsibilities include making sound policy decisions that serve all ratepayers fairly and supervising the General Manager who is responsible for daily operations. To make sure I am doing right by the working families (ratepayers), I come to board meetings having done my homework. I read every Agenda packet cover to cover. I enjoy delving into staff reports, and “nerding out” on the details. I joined the board with the knowledge of environmental systems, interpreting budgets, and how grant funding works as I have written successful grant applications and served as a reviewer on funding panels. In 2024, I collaborated with Director Hanson to update the Leak Credit Policy. The new policy limits refunds to $1000 every three years: this is plenty for the average household experiencing a leak emergency yet protects us all from paying for the negligence of water wasters. I take the privilege of board service seriously as every “ratepayer” is a neighbor, friend, and community member.

You can learn more at about Special Districts by checking out these links:

State of California Government Code “Community Services District Division” https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=61001.&highlight=true&keyword=Community+Services+Districts

A great overview of what Special Districts do: https://www.csda.net/about-special-districts/learn-about

The HCSD website https://humboldtcsd.org/ has a wealth of information about our district.

Thank you again,

Julie Ryan

707-273-1314

julie4hcsd@gmail.com

https://julieryan4hcsd.com/

Answer created without AI

 

Alan Bongio

Jessica,

Thank you for asking this important question.

The Humboldt Community Services District is an independent special district that provides water distribution and wastewater collection services to approximately 20,000 people living in the unincorporated communities surrounding Eureka. The district also provides street lighting in a limited number of neighborhoods.

Put simply, HCSD makes sure that when customers turn on the faucet, they receive safe and reliable drinking water and when they flush a toilet or use a drain, their wastewater is safely carried away for treatment. Providing these services requires much more than most people realize. Behind every faucet and drain is an extensive system of water and sewer mains, storage tanks, pumps, booster stations, and sewer lift stations. That infrastructure must be operated and maintained every day and repaired or replaced when necessary.

The five elected directors establish district policy, approve budgets and major expenditures, set water and sewer rates and fees, and adopt the long-term plans needed to maintain and replace aging infrastructure. The board also hires and supervises the general manager, who oversees the district’s daily operations and staff. Board members do not manage day-to-day operations. Their responsibility is to give the general manager clear direction, ask informed questions, understand the district’s finances and infrastructure, and make decisions that protect both system reliability and ratepayers’ interests. These decisions often involve balancing competing needs. The district must maintain adequate financial reserves, pursue grants, affordable financing, replace infrastructure before it fails, comply with increasingly complex regulations, and keep rates as reasonable as possible for households and businesses.

My connection to HCSD goes back to its beginning. My father served on the HCSD board for 34 years and I later had the privilege of serving on the board for 21 years, including several terms as board president. I worked with seven different general managers and many different employees and board members. That history matters. An experienced board member can help the district remember why earlier decisions were made, recognize approaches that succeeded or failed, and avoid repeating past mistakes. Institutional knowledge also allows a director to place today’s challenges in the proper context while helping the board plan responsibly for the future.

In the past four years, water and sewer rates have approximately doubled. Those increases have placed a real burden on all ratepayers, but they have been especially difficult for seniors, people with low incomes and families already struggling with rising costs. We all need more affordable services. That means carefully examining budgets and expenditures, pursuing grants and affordable long-term financing, using reserves responsibly, and ensuring that ratepayers are not asked to carry more of the burden than is necessary. My experience and knowledge of the district’s history will allow me to begin that work immediately. HCSD must maintain reliable service and replace aging infrastructure, but affordability must be part of every financial decision the board makes.

 

Are you a candidate? Log in here.

... or post a press release.