Residents of the Woodacre Flats are crossing their fingers and plugging their noses as Marin County and Questa Engineering mull options and gather input on how to put an end to leaky septic systems and pumping costs that have afflicted the neighborhood for decades.
A feasibility study evaluating community wastewater solutions was originally set to be published last June after the San Geronimo Flats were nixed from the project. But last month, Questa was granted an additional six months for more data analysis and community outreach. The extra time will also help organizers find a location to apply recycled water from the system, a feature they said could bring in more state funding. A study is now expected by the end of June.
Last May, Questa delivered a questionnaire to 250 Woodacre residents, gauging interest in six options for wastewater treatment and asking what their main concerns were over the current state of septic tanks. Of the 80 responses, most expressed concern over contamination of San Geronimo and Woodacre Creeks, strong odors, interference with property improvements and general operation during rainy months.
The project would build a community leach field and offer one of various forms of water treatment that could serve anywhere from 150 to 300 homes. The county and Questa are eyeing several spots for the leach field, but their number-one choice is located on the Dickson Ridge, above the eastern end of San Geronimo Valley Drive on the Dickson Ranch.
Grace Tolson, the ranch manager and property co-owner, said she wants to help the community solve this problem but there is still much to work out before she offers her property.
“There’s been nothing set in concrete and no real proposal besides some [county staff] came out to look at the site,” she told the Light. “I haven’t heard one word from them.”
Residents ranked a secondary treatment system with summertime irrigation of recycled water as the preferred option, and a tertiary treatment system as the second option. Both would incorporate the use of water recycling, which, according to Arti Kundu, an Environmental Health Services project manager for the county, increases opportunities for grant funding from the State Water Resources Control Board.
The key difference lies in the level of treatment, with tertiary treatment achieving a higher quality effluent suitable for water recycling purposes beyond basic irrigation.
Initially, project organizers wanted to utilize property at Spirit Rock Meditation Center for summertime irrigation, but after Spirit Rock demurred, they began exploring an alternative site.
“We wanted another six months so we can come up with another location for the application of recycled water,” Ms. Kundu said. Other low-ranking proposals include fixing the septic systems and no project at all.
Norman Hantzsche, the project’s engineer at Questa, said many people responded to the survey saying they did not have enough information to vote.
Last fall, Questa and the county led 15 Woodacre residents on a tour of the wastewater treatment system in Marshall, which, like the proposed site on the Dickson Ridge, incorporates a hillside leach field and an automatic siphon system.
“Marshall’s system looked clean and there was no smell,” said Christin Anderson, a resident of the Woodacre Flats whose leach field often floods during big rains. “Given that we’re also looking at a hill, it’s looking like a good possibility for us.”
Questa and the county will hold two meetings at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center. The first, which will aim to educate residents on septic systems, takes place at 5:30 p.m. on March 14. The second will focus on answering questions about the project and has not been scheduled.