The Lateral

Facility Tour Focuses on Environmental Progress and Upgrades

West County Wastewater (WCW) invited visitors from the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board to tour the innovative projects at the Water Quality Resource & Recovery Plant.

Over 80 executives, engineers, environmental scientists, and geologists arrived in small groups throughout the morning of May 18, 2023, — the first tour of its size since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attendees engaged in a walking and talking tour along the Richmond Bay Trail to see the North Richmond Shoreline Living Levee Project site, headed by our Environmental Services and Laboratory employees. The conversation focused on integrating the sea-level management project around the WCW property and beyond.

The groups also saw the plant facility and the Clean & Green Project construction progress. WCW Operations and Maintenance staff gave tour-goers an up-close look at the project’s sustainability upgrades. At the time of the visit, two new digesters were being built from the inside out, laying the foundation for approximately 350 cubic yards of concrete per digester — nearly three football fields’ worth!

A team led by WCW’s General Manager Andrew Clough, Senior Engineer and Project Manager Keith Reynolds, and Tim Molette Parks from our partners at Mithun oversaw a lively classroom discussion about the Living Levee and Clean & Green projects. Visitors asked questions to learn more about the development of each.

The day concluded with a visit to our neighbors at East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which conducts work similar to WCW.

For more information, view the Clean & Green presentation here, and the Living Levee presentation here. Go here to see the Clean & Green project webpages on our website.

New Clean & Green Project Web Page Launches

At a WCW Board meeting on September 20, 2023, staff revealed the newly launched web pages for the ongoing Clean & Green sustainability project.

The project is the most significant project in the history of WCW and is slated to achieve 93% greenhouse gas reduction. The organization will move closer to the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

The multi-year project includes many important upgrades to the Water Quality & Resource Recovery Plant, which are explained in the new web pages. The page includes aerial views of the plant, a time lapse video to show construction progress, and an easy-to-understand, interactive page that walks viewers through the wastewater treatment processes.

The project began in 2022, broke ground in 2023, and will be completed by the end of 2024.

Learn more by visiting the new webpage at www.wcwd.org/the-clean-green-project.

Changing the World as a Woman in Wastewater

As a Lab Analyst II at WCW's Water Quality & Resource Recovery Plant, Karla Amezcua is achieving her dream of making an impact on the earth and the environment. Growing up in Jalisco, Mexico, Karla moved to Napa with the goal of building a career in wastewater, and today, she is part of the “eyes of the plant,” ensuring the health, safety, and compliance of treated water.

Learn how she accomplished her goals and how she believes more women can do the same at wcwd.org/women-in-wastewater.

WCW Board of Directors Serves the Community

Your voice matters! Did you know WCW is represented by a publicly elected Board of Directors? WCW transitioned from at-large elections to division-based elections in 2020, in compliance with the California Voting Rights Act.

WCW’s five service area divisions are represented by:

President David Alvarado, Division 3

Vice President Arto Rinteela, Division 1

Director Cheryl Sudduth, Division 5

Director Annie M. King-Meredith, Division 5

Director Harry Wiener, Division 4

Each Board member represents the geographic area in which they live and serves a four-year term. Read about the Board of Directors here, including each member’s bio. Learn more about the election process and find your division here.

From Spring to Summer: WCW in the Community

WCW celebrated Pride Month in June, raising Pride flags at both its headquarters and the Water Quality & Resource Recovery Plant. The WCW logo transformed into a beautiful rainbow display, adorning decals, water bottles, and staff logo wear.

For the second year in a row, WCW participated in the City of Richmond’s Juneteenth Freedom Festival in Nicholls Park on Saturday, June 16. Staff spoke with neighbors about pollution prevention, our Clean & Green Project, and more. Thank you to the WCW Board members and other local elected officials who attended!

Members of the WCW team attended the 12th Annual North Richmond Music Festival on Saturday, July 15. Under a sunny sky, WCW joined other community vendors, including Richmond Fire, San Pablo Police Department, Urban Tilth, and Safe Organized Spaces (SOS), and engaged with the public at the Shields-Reid Park in North Richmond.

In early August, WCW participated in National Night Out (NNO), an annual event hosted by city police departments. It’s an opportunity to talk with neighbors, answer questions about services and strengthen trust and relationships. Last year, WCW attended the Richmond area for NNO; this year, we visited the City of San Pablo.

On Sunday, September 17, staff represented WCW at the El Sobrante Stroll! Hundreds of attendees strolled by the beautiful WCW canopy, getting information about our mission and projects we’re working on. This one-day event was a big success; we met with families, kids, and community partners from throughout West County.