Bear Valley Water. {feel free to correct or add to this article, as with all others}
- Comes from Bear Valley Lake, and a local water company filters it, pumps it to holding tanks and then the water is gravity fed to homes and businesses. A new water filtration system is almost complete as of week 1 of September 06. This filtration system uses reverse osmosis type filters and has better failure reporting technology than the previous generation.
- the Bear Valley water company apparently doesn't own all the rights to the water in the lake. There are downstream rights holders who can demand water be released to them, even if it means lowering the lake by many feet. Apparently water rights have been fought over since the first settlers. County Records for water rights go back to the turn of the century. Settling the water rights issues and disputes must be a real pain the arse for the new developers.
- the lake gets lowered significantly in the fall to clean out the bottom of the lake, and to reoxygenate the lower depths. The water otherwise would start to smell and become stale. At time of writing (Sept 06) the water tastes and smells perfectly fine.
- new water meters are installed which RF transmit the meter data ... amazingly, the water company says the meters can transmit easily through 20-30 feet of snow and from your meter to the street. So don't think a blizzard will save you from a water bill hit :) This also gives the water company staff an easy way to bill you and check for leaks - all they do is drive by your house slowly and your water situation is picked up by their laptop and transceiver. The water company told me people sometimes drain their water, but don't close the main, and the meter just spins like crazy. The main water tank has even been emptied on occasion by wide open draining!
