The Stockton City Council proclaimed a local emergency after invasive golden mussels began clogging the city’s Delta Water Supply Project Intake Pump Station, raising concerns about the reliability of the water system serving nearly 200,000 customers in northern and western Stockton.
The council voted 7-0 on June 23 to ratify a local emergency proclamation issued June 19, giving City Manager Johnny Ford expanded authority to respond to the infestation. The resolution allows the city manager to expedite emergency contracts and purchases, suspend normal contracting limits, use contingency funds to cover response costs, pursue actions necessary to protect public health and maintain water operations, and seek state and federal assistance.
Travis Small, deputy director of water resources in Stockton’s municipal utilities department, warned that the infestation poses an immediate threat to the Delta Water Supply Project Intake Pump Station, which began operation in 2012 and can treat up to 30 million gallons of water per day from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Mokelumne River before distributing it throughout Stockton…