Residents and businesses in Benicia have been ordered to conserve water following a hillside collapse near Interstate 680 on Wednesday that damaged a line that delivers the city's drinking water.
The slope failure occurred just outside the city's limits, near I-680 and Gold Hill Road, and caused a brief closure of I-680 earlier in the day.
Benicia Public Works crews and contractors are working to determine the extent of the damage, according to an alert posted shortly after 8 p.m. on the city's website.
The city has implemented a "Stage 4 Critical Water Shortage" alert, requiring all residences, businesses, community organizations, schools, hotels and others to reduce water use by up to 40%.
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“We’re asking the community for their help and patience conserve water by 40% while we work on the pipeline and get it back into service,” said Kyle Ochenduszko, public works director.
Interim City Manager Mario Giuliani said it was "an extraordinary situation" and asked residents to conserve water and be patient.
“This is a serious incident and we are really asking for that conservation of water that is what's most important do your part to conserve water take shorter showers do laundry less frequently these are the things you can do to help this community out,” said Guiliani.
Benicia relies on water from Lake Herman as a secondary source and will access that water during the closure of the damaged line, city officials said.
The water from Lake Herman may have an earthy taste or odor in tap water due to naturally-occurring compounds such as organic carbon, but it still meets meets or exceeds all state and federal requirements for safe drinking water, according to the city.
The city will update the situation via news media, email news and city social media channels. To receive emergency notifications, residents may sign up for Alert Solano at AlertSolano.com.
