Finding F1
Despite the water rate increases of approximately 183% between 2011-2025, earmarked to address water quality and infrastructure issues, St. Helena’s water is still being delivered to customers with taste, odor, and color quality issues. After recent improvements and upgrades to the Bell Canyon Water Treatment Plant, water currently leaves it clear, clean, and healthy; therefore, city staff and consultants now blame decades of silt, debris, and sediment build-up in the water distribution system for the continued water quality troubles.
Jury report: Lapsed Leadership: St. Helena’s Problematic Pipes and Murky Waters · PDF page 24
Permanent linkOfficial response
City of St. Helena City Council
Partially disagrees: accepts recurring taste/odor/color concerns and further work, but disputes earmarking and single-cause framing. Pages 3–5 cite treatment changes, Proposition 218 and representative-customer bill reconstruction; methodology appears on pages 21–22.
Read official response · PDF page 3Clear accepted/disputed scope, specific engineering/financial explanation and identified laws, December 2017 installation and rate schedules. Representative bill comparison is not a universal customer increase; no water-safety certification is made.
This review evaluates the response document. Implementation claims have not been independently verified.