Solvang’s Public Works Department predicts the city will need to increase inspections of local businesses’ stormwater management practices, starting in 2024.
“As I understand it, this is something that is looking to be added by the Regional Water Quality Control Board as part of our next general permit,” Rodger Olds, Solvang Public Works director and city engineer, said during the Solvang City Council’s Nov. 28 meeting.
While Solvang’s current stormwater permit requires “some inspection and reporting” of industrial and commercial businesses, including car washes and auto shops, Olds said that the next permit—expected to be issued in 2023 for public comment and enacted in 2024—will obligate the city to capture “a greater component of reporting,” without going into detail.
During Olds’ presentation on Solvang’s stormwater management program, Councilmember and Mayor-elect Mark Infanti asked Olds about the city’s current filtration practices for stormwater, and was surprised to hear there are none.
“If I understand the system correctly, stormwater goes down the drains, and gets filtered at some point in time, and then is released to the [Santa Ynez] River?” Infanti asked.
“It is released to the river. We don’t have a filtration system,” Olds replied. “It does get naturally filtered, if it soaks into the ground, or runs across landscaping and that sort of thing. We don’t have a treatment plant for stormwater.”
“None of it goes through our wastewater treatment plant?” Infanti asked.
“No, or not intentionally,” Olds said.
Infanti described the revelation as “kind of startling,” and said he was concerned about stormwater bringing cigarette butts and animal droppings into the Santa Ynez River.
“Well, we have a parade with a bunch of horses,” Infanti said, referring to the Julefest Parade scheduled for Dec. 3. “They leave a lot of remnants, and it just goes into the river?”
“That’s why we have to pick it up after,” Councilmember Claudia Orona said.
Olds added that the city requires the parade’s organizers to hire a street sweeper.
“That’ll be me soon,” Councilmember Robert Clarke joked, as Elizabeth Orona was elected to take Clarke’s seat on City Council next year.
“Yeah, you’ll need a new job,” Infanti said with a laugh.
While acknowledging some of the city’s efforts to encourage the public to pick up after their pets—with 14 Mutt Mitt dog waste stations located throughout the city—Claudia Orona suggested that city staff should look into possible stormwater filtration system options for Solvang to consider installing in the future. Infanti agreed.
This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2022.