January storm water flows through STPUD double 4th of July, but not record breaking

Rain and snow flows during the atmospheric river storm that hit South Lake Tahoe in January created more than double the normal flow through the South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD).

On a normal 4th of July, when most beds are filled in local homes and motels, STPUD sees about five million gallons go through the sewer plant, but with the large amounts of snow and rain on roads and in yards, 12.57 million gallons flowed through the plant on January 8, 2017.

"Particularly during rain on snow events, the flows into our sewer system spike upward, due to things such as street and meadow flooding submerging manholes, causing storm water to enter the system," STPUD General Manager Richard Solbrig told South Tahoe Now. "In order to relieve local property flooding, we also are aware that individuals direct roof drains, and basement sump pump discharges, into the sewer system."

Even with all the water, there were no sewage spills in South Lake Tahoe Solbrig said. Crews were out patrolling the system and kept all pump stations operating at full capacity. Some were on backup generator power due to power outages, but all worked well he said.

Some households on the STPUD system may have experienced frozen pipes and power outages during the storm but Solbrig said the "district" didn't know of any of their customers being without water.

From an historical perspective, these large rain on snow events have caused high flows in the past on a number of occasions. The highest 24-hour flow recorded was 17.29 million gallons per day (MGD) on February, 17, 1986. While the January 2017 storm was a big one, there have been six other days where the flows were more than 12.57 MGD: twice in each 1982, 1986 and 1987.

In future storms, Solbrig asks that homeowners not direct the water on their property into the sewer system. He understands that people need to discharge the sump pumped water to the external environment so storm drains, culverts, street gutters or roadside ditched are better are better than into the sewer.