Schwalm blasts Lovetro, PSWID for H20 crisis

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Gazette Blog Editor's comment: The water crisis in Pine and Strawberry is no surprise to us.  In fact, since the Pine Strawberry Water Improvement District (PSWID) took over from Brooke Utilities, it has been a disaster waiting to happen.  We have never been fans of Brooke, but at least that company imposed conservation restrictions on those two communities.  To pretend all is well and allow residents to use all the water they want is a recipe for what is now happening.  And don't even get us started on the dubious deal PSWID made with local realtor/developer/Roundup columnist Ray Pugel to acquire his sandy well that was supposed to solve all the water problems.  Pine resident Sam Schwalm is head of the watchdog group Water for Pine Strawberry.  Here is his take on the situation: Hello Neighbor,Most of you are aware of the critical problems that the PSWID water system is dealing with. At the end of this email is a copy of the latest information sent out by PSWID at 6:30 PM on June 20^th. The link to an article in the Arizona Republic is included below. Take time to read the comments. Some of them are pretty good.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/06/19/20120619gila-county-areas-no-water-use-advisory-pine-strawberry.html
What follows is a quick set of set of thoughts about the situation. It is more stream of thought than the usual e-mail I send out, so please excuse the rough edges. Some of the below is speculation and given the short time frame we haven’t had time to fully vet all of the facts.
A week ago Friday, there was quite a scene in the PSWID office when Mr. Lovetro fired Mr. Dean Shaffer and another field operations employee. Mr. Shaffer has been repeatedly lauded by the board over the years for his turn-around of the water system and it is generally acknowledged that Mr. Shaffer has the best level of knowledge about the water system.
Apparently the firing was done in Mr. Lovetro’s usual arrogant pugnacious style and included an offer by Mr. Lovetro to go outside and fight. A third field operations employee was put on leave because he objected to the firing of the other two. Our understanding is that CH2M Hill brought in temporary replacements from their Prescott Valley operations. We haven’t been able to determine the reason for the firing yet, so we don’t know if there was good cause for it or whether once again Mr. Lovetro has conspiracy theories dancing in his head. The situation leads to a few questions:1.      Was there a building crisis in the water system and the firings were a result of that? Certainly, Mr. Lovetro’s past actions have shown a marked tendency to drive people out and then scapegoat them.2.      With the most experienced operations personnel gone, did the temporary employees make a mistake that resulted in the current problems?3.      Why is Mr. Lovetro doing the firing of CH2M Hill employees? One of the benefits that we saw with the CH2M Hill operations contract was that the PSWID employees would be insulated from the erratic and ignorant behavior of some of the board members. I can see where Mr. Lovetro can express his opinion to the District Manager that an employee should be let go, but it should be CH2M Hill that deals with their own employees.
At the April 14^th PSWID meeting it was said that the Milk Ranch Well #1 would be on-line by the end of May. Given that, PSWID is experiencing a shortage of water that must not have happened. It has been 18 months since they started work on the MRW #1. Perhaps they could have done much better focusing on getting that well on line rather than start two additional wells.
The PSWID board and employees can’t prevent most problems from occurring. As they say, sh*t happens. With all the construction on Pine Creek Canyon Rd the chance for sh*t happening has gone way up. What counts is how you show up when it does. A couple of thoughts:1.      In the notice below, the threat of contamination is downplayed, and perhaps they are erring very much on the side of caution, but they are telling us not to use the water. The communication of that left much to be desired. Sending an e-mail to those who have signed up is insufficient. Several people I spoke to didn’t see an e-mail, but first learned about it from the news. I am sure there were many people who were unaware and used the water well after the notice went out. In a situation like that there should have been people knocking on doors and leaving fliers. I am sure that people in the community would have been happy to pitch in and help with that.2.      The water for the Solitude Trails Domestic Water Improvement District flows through PSWID pipes. Were they given notice not to use the water?3.      A good deal more information needs to be supplied during the resolution of the problem so that the public is kept informed. Vague statements about “mechanical issues” being resolved don’t cut it. Provide the detail and explain the plan and timeline to return to normal.4.      When it is all over, present a plan to the public that explains the causes and how that will be avoided in the future.
That’s it for the moment.PUBLIC NOTICE UPDATE June 20, 2012 Dear Pine Strawberry Water Improvement District Customer: As you are probably aware, the PSWID is experiencing a service outage resulting from a combination of mechanical issues, drought conditions and increased demand that are preventing water delivery to approximately 1,000 customers in the Pine section of the community. Here is the latest information available. Water quality and who is affected District officials say there is no evidence that the Pine Strawberry water supply is not safe. As a precautionary measure, however, homes and businesses in the affected area should refrain from using water for any purposes until the situation is resolved. This restriction is for the Pine section of the community only; customers in Strawberry are not affected. The list of affected Pine neighborhoods can found at http://pswid.org. The list remains unchanged from yesterday’s public notice. The health language included in yesterday’s communication was provided in accordance with guidelines from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and our responsibility to take a cautious approach to water quality following water outages. Corrective and safety measures District employees are working diligently to correct the mechanical issues. Replacement parts have been ordered and are being installed, including replacement of two primary booster pumps in the system, which is already producing positive results. We also have brought in additional workers from nearby communities as well as subject-matter experts to assist local staff. Staff members also are examining the entire system in detail to determine if there are any other water losses occurring. Because pipelines in parts of the system were without water, it is necessary to chlorinate and disinfect these lines once water service has been restored. We are in the process of performing this procedure now. This is the same procedure that is used whenever a water line is repaired following a break. Once normal flow is restored, staff members will collect and analyze numerous water samples before giving clearance for consumers to resume normal use, erring on the side of caution to ensure that the public’s health and safety are protected. With progress being made on resolving the mechanical issues, we will conduct water quality testing in the affected areas on Thursday June 21. The test results will be available on Friday. We will provide an update at that time. Everyone needs to conserve Because the outage has occurred at a time when dry conditions and high temperatures have increased demand that further strains the water system, ALL PSWID customers are being asked to practice conservation measures, eliminating all non-essential water uses such as watering lawns, car washing, filling swimming pools, etc., until further notice. Also please be on the lookout for any leaks or running water, and report any instances to the PSWID Office immediately. Where to get water PSWID has made arrangements to provide bottled drinking water to customers in the affected areas. It can be picked up from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the PSWID office, 6306 West Hardscrabble Rd If your home or business is outside the affected area, there is currently no need for supplemental drinking water and PSWID asks that you refrain from obtaining available bottled drinking water to help ensure it is available for those who need it. Where to get more information • PSWID website: http://pswid.org • PSWID office: (928) 476-4222 • Gila County Health Services: (928) 402-8802 • Arizona Department of Environmental Quality: (800) 234-5677 This update is from the group Water For Pine Strawberry. We will be sending out an update after each of the PSWID meetings with a summary of what the board did, additional facts that are relevant to what went on, and some commentary.  Updates on earlier meetings are available on our website: www.WaterForPineStrawberry.com .
Water For Pine Strawberry is a group of residents who are concerned about the community’s water issues and how they can best be resolved. Visit our web site, www.WaterForPineStrawberry.com, for more information. The website for PSWID is www.pswid.org .
Clarifications can be submitted by anyone who is explicitly named, implicitly identifiable, or a board member to items in this update. Clarifications will be posted on our website. We reserve the right to post a response. Clarifications must deal with the topics discussed in the update that relate to the individual or the board. They must be in family friendly language and be non-abusive. When the clarification is accepted, it will be posted to the website and notice of that posting will be added to the next update.