PG&E Power Shutoff: Benicia, Vallejo Use Backups For Water Supply

BENICIA, CA — Although customers in the cities of Benicia and Vallejo have not lost power in PG&E's widespread Northern California public safety power shutoff Wednesday, officials with both cities took actions to keep the water flowing to their customers.

The city of Benicia said Wednesday afternoon that because of outages in other parts of Solano County, it has temporarily switched its water source from the State Water Project to Benicia’s Lake Herman Reservoir.

"Because of use of this alternate water source, residents may notice a different smell or taste to the water, which has been treated to State standards and is safe to use and drink," city officials said in a Facebook post. "Lake Herman Reservoir is the city’s backup water source to be used for just such occasions."

The city of Vallejo said although it has not been affected by the shutoff as previously anticipated, PG&E did cut power to its Green Valley Water Treatment Plant. Using backup power generators, the facility is still operating normally, city officials said Wednesday afternoon.

"Generators will be fueled approximately every 12 hours and have ability to provide power supply until the anticipated conclusion of PG&E's projected shutoff. Staff remains on site for security and monitoring," Vallejo city officials said.

Vallejo's Rockville Pump Station is also running on power from the back-up generator, while the city's Siebe Pump Station remains running on PG&E power.

"The station is on PG&E's list of sites for planned shut-off, and staff will continue to monitor," Vallejo city officials said.

The city of Vallejo also noted that in an effort to support its neighbors, Vallejo was supplying water Wednesday to American Canyon because the backup generator for the city of American Canyon has failed.

"Though Vallejo did not lose power, power outages in other areas affect the city's ability to supply water, and the city thanks the Water Department for their preparations," city officials said.

Elsewhere in Solano County, the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville have been particularly hard hit by the outage. The city of Fairfield had 17,963 customers powerless as of Wednesday morning, while 13,665 were without power in Vacaville.

The city of Fairfield noted that its water is safe to drink during the outage. An "issue" reported earlier Wednesday at one of the city's treatment plants was a slower flow rate because of the use of backup generators at the plant, a Fairfield Public Works official said.

The treatment plant is located on the east side of Fairfield that lost power during PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoff on Wednesday, Interim Assistant Public Works Director and City Engineer Ryan Panganiban said.

"There is no issue with the quality of water, the issue is the power went out and we were running on backup generators," Panganiban said.

The city was still using emergency backup power at the plant as of around 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, Panganiban said.

The reservoirs that serve the city are at maximum capacity, Panganiban said.

Fairfield police sent an advisory to residents around 11:15 a.m. about conserving water and using it for cooking, drinking and other necessary household uses but not for outside landscaping.

Fairfield police said water service will continue using storage and backup power to run critical facilities, but residents must reduce water usage.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.