At around 10 p.m. last Wednesday, Carmelo Lane experienced a water main leak due to erosion in old pipes. The leak caused street damage and required immediate attention from the Davis Police Department and the Public Works Department. The Public works department worked on fixing the leaks from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

The City of Davis is no exception when it comes to California’s drought, making water problems a constant issue on the minds of both citizens and the city workers.

“The Carmelo Lane break last week was the only one that is considered larger than normal, [it even] lifted the street up a little. Probably because of the time that it happened, people noticed it more. They’re not used to having construction in the middle of the night,” said Gary Wells, the public works water division manager.

Carmelo Lane was one of the three reported breaks last week, causing some disturbances for the residents. The noise in the middle of the night was accompanied by low water pressure for the residents as the problem was being fixed. However, there was no damage to the water quality or the neighborhood’s water bills.

The water main leaks are a result of the pipes developing external corrosion over time.  Once the outside of a pipe erodes, it begins to thin out the materials of the pipe, causing holes and eventually breakage.

“Our systems vary in age, with some of the oldest being 80 years old,” Wells said.

After a pipe leaks, the amount of water lost can depend on the severity of the leak, according to Wells.

“Typically, [the amount is] a gallon per minute for small leaks to 100 gallons per minute for larger leaks, which can be measured by the amount of water that bubbles up to the surface,” Wells said.

Pipe damage is not a problem specific to Davis and it is not uncommon to see multiple leaks occur once in a while. Yet, larger leaks lead to concerning water loss, street damage and the need for long-term repairs. In order to reduce water loss, professionals use a hydro excavator within 30 minutes of the leak. A hydro excavator sucks the leaking water from the ground while simultaneously lifting the soil.

The city sets up valves every 400 feet from the damage, allowing easy access to problematic pipes. This in turn mitigates the amount of people affected by the construction. After the water is taken care of and the pipes are fixed, the remaining problem lies in street damage repair and more permanent pavement. The city has yet to plan the date of repaving the street area.

In other parts of Davis, the developments of The Cannery Row have taken water conservation into consideration as they are now cutting trenches across East Covell Boulevard to build water mains. The Cannery – a mix of a neighborhood, farm, parks and office spaces – was proposed in 2012 by ConAgra Foods Inc.

The Cannery website has been sending out updates for the project and recently informed citizens on what construction must be done. Workers will be putting in the water utilities for the new development, which are said to be connected to the water main already in place. The new water utilities will include non-potable irrigation lines, which will be used for the site’s parks, greenbelt, and farms.

“Development of the Cannery will include connections to the utilities that run under Covell Boulevard. The developer, the New Home Company, is doing the construction under review and inspection of the City Public Works Department,” said community development administrator Katherine Hess.

Close inspection of the construction is important when working with the older pipes already in place. With the grand opening planned for next summer, Hess does not foresee any issues with the water mains as development starts to pick up.

“The entire development was extensively analyzed in the Environmental Impact Report certified last year,” Hess said.

Along with water main leaks and pipe problems, the City of Davis has been working to fix the city pool. This August, they discovered it was leaking water constantly. According to sources, the pool has been leaking approximately 7,000 gallons per day.

There was a gap in between when the leaks were discovered and when action was taken. Community service superintendent Samantha Wallace said that this was because the last inspection did not occur until Oct. 16.

In response to the concerns that development was moving too slow for the amount of water being wasted every day, Davis City Council met last Friday to revise the date for fixing the pool, which was moved from November to Oct. 29. The city pool has been around for nearly 70 years. With the pool’s refurbishment in action, citizens are wondering about a new pool in the future.

“The city staff has been meeting and we plan to go to the city council in the next two months or so with a plan,” Wallace said.

A new pool, although estimated to cost around $1 million and require months of construction, seems to be an investment supported by the citizens of Davis as well as the city workers and developers who understand the urgency of California’s drought. Citizens and councilmembers believe a new, updated pool would mean fewer problems with water loss in the future — a security that would save money and prevent further concern.

These recent water problems have a common theme — there are outdated infrastructures that have not been updated in many years. The projected cost of the repairs are high but necessary, according to sources.

“To fix the Carmelo Lane pipes, with labor costs included, it is an estimated $3,000,” Wells said.

This amount, which covers labor costs, digging costs and necessary machinery, is paid for through citizens’ water bills, called enterprise funds. The payment is not considered a general fund, which are taxes. With this, the cost to repair the pool is estimated to be $50,000. However, the estimate would only cover the leaks found for the time being. Both costs are related to relatively temporary fixes for long-term problems. Citizens believe the city will need to address these issues, keeping in mind long-term goals that are more cost-effective and eco-friendly.

Every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Sutter Davis Hospital hosts an offshoot of the Davis Farmers Market at its main entrance. The partnership promotes health and supports the local community of growers and producers.

The Davis Farmers Market has been a community establishment for 38 years. The market’s purpose is to connect people to their food and the farmers who grow it. The market makes fresh, local food available to nearby residents, hospital employees, patients and visitors. It is now open year-round.

“I feel like the market does so much; it’s everything right. It’s good health, it’s people talking to each other, it’s being outside,” said Randii MacNear, manager of the Davis Farmers Market for the past 34 years.

The market at Sutter, with only about eight vendors in the large, covered entry of the hospital, is considerably smaller than the downtown Davis markets. This is the first year in a five-year partnership that the market will be open year-round.

“We’re really excited because it gives us an opportunity to just keep building, [instead of having to close and reopen the market every year],” MacNear said.

Incorporating new businesses is one way the market grows. Sharan Virdi is the founder of the vegan and gluten free bakery Delishior, which has booths at the Sutter market, Davis’ Wednesday market and a Woodland market. Virdi said the market is a great way to introduce new products and to get to know his customers better.

Next to Delishior’s table is one with more baked goods, belonging to the well-established Upper Crust Bakery of Davis. Gillian Kalisky’s parents started the bakery in 1986 and have a long history with the Davis Farmers Market.

“It’s our best market, still. It’s always been our best market,” Kalisky said.

Kalisky feels that having the market at the hospital is a great way of promoting their locally sourced, healthy, natural ingredients.

Kalisky expressed how important farmers markets are to the sellers. In general, customers are “buying directly from the producers, whether it’s farmers or bakers or artisans, [and are] really supporting small businesses as directly as [they] possibly can.”

Joe Giottonini is the founder of another new business, Squashed Olives, which also has a booth at the Sutter market that he says serves as “research” to help him learn what his customers want. Giottonini’s artisan lotions and soaps are made with his family’s own olive oil, which is also for sale on his table.

About half of the tables at the Sutter market belong to farmers. Under California Certified Farmers’ Markets regulations, all of the farms get inspected by the California Department of Food and Agriculture to ensure that they are selling only what they grow. Some of the farms choose to adhere to organic principles, and must submit to additional inspections in order to become certified as organic.

“I have such great admiration for farmers. It’s not easy to be a farmer,” MacNear said.

The market is a community of its own. For Bernice Hatfield, who owns an organic farm with her husband, the other farmers at the market are her friends. Hatfield said that they are a “sales team” that supports each other, such as when a fellow farmer ran over to Hatfield’s table to borrow $1 bills. Many of the farmers are selling the same fruits and vegetables in season, but each have their own specialties. Hatfield’s table includes loofah and bitter melon, ingredients used in her traditional Taiwanese cooking. “I only grow things I like to eat,” Hatfield said.

Currently, many of the outside visitors to the Sutter market are senior citizens who live in a retirement community across the street. The market is easily accessible for them, with abundant parking, fewer crowds than downtown and a lot of space to move around at the market. The market at Sutter and the farmers market on the UC Davis campus are the products of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant to reach out to students and people in health care.

“Good health begins with farm-fresh food. The Sutter Davis Hospital Farmers Market is a great place for UC Davis students to come get fresh produce, fruit, baked goods and seasonal items that are locally grown,” said Sutter Davis Hospital CEO Jennifer Maher. “The five-year partnership between Sutter Davis Hospital and the Davis Farmers Market continues to grow and we are proud to offer the market to our community, staff and patients year-round, right at the hospital doorstep.”

Community members living near Sutter Davis Hospital have an opportunity to take advantage of this market as a supplement to the downtown or campus markets. Macnear encouraged students to visit the market if they want to bring something home to their families during the holiday season — whether it’s the honey, the local lotions, olive oil, or even a bag of beans.