St. Helena Names Police Chief and Starts Water Main Flushing

The City of St. Helena is marking two major municipal milestones this week as 24-year St. Helena Police Department veteran Justin Tharp begins his tenure as permanent police chief and contractor Hydrologics launches a $917,000 closed-loop water main flushing program across 89% of the city’s water pipes, according to reports from Patch Napa Valley and the Napa Valley Register.

Justin Tharp Ratified as Permanent St. Helena Police Chief

The St. Helena City Council ratified Tharp’s appointment on Oct. 14 after he served as interim chief following former Chief Chris Hartley’s retirement in mid-April. Born in Yuba City, Tharp moved to Napa Valley at six months old when his father took a position at Napa State Hospital. After attending Napa public schools and Napa Valley College and volunteering as a firefighter with Station 16 in Dry Creek-Lokoya, Tharp graduated from the Napa Valley College police academy.

He spent six years as an officer and sergeant with the California Department of Mental Health at Napa State Hospital and volunteered as a reserve police officer in Concord before joining the St. Helena Police Department in October 2002. Rising through the ranks to sergeant and, in 2020, lieutenant, Tharp graduated from the 10-week FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 2023, earned an associate degree in political science from Napa Valley College and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Liberty University with honors in October 2025, and completed Leadership Napa Valley’s Class 38 in June.

Mayor Dohring and Interim City Manager Jim McCann praised Tharp’s decades of local knowledge and leadership during the interim transition. “I believe good policing starts with relationships,” Tharp wrote in a message to residents. “I have an open door, and I genuinely mean that.”

$917,000 Zero-Discharge Flushing Targets Iron and Manganese in 40 Miles of Pipe

Meanwhile, crews from contractor Hydrologics began flushing water mains Monday in St. Helena’s Zinfandel and Stice neighborhood under a $917,000 city contract covering more than 40 miles of pipe—about 89% of St. Helena’s distribution network—over 45 to 50 working days, according to the Napa Valley Register.

Rather than discharging water into storm drains, Hydrologics uses a closed-loop method called zero-discharge flushing that pumps water through mains at high velocity, filters out decades of accumulated iron and manganese mineral deposits that cause discolored and foul-tasting tap water, and returns the filtered water to the system. Hydrologics has previously used the method in Yountville, Carson, and Ontario, California, and will also run inspection cameras through roughly 4 miles of St. Helena’s pipes.

Work is scheduled between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., moving to Inglewood Avenue on Wednesday, the area between Chaix/Lewelling and Grayson/Mills during the week of Nov. 2, and between Grayson/Mills and Pope/Mitchell/Allison/Valley View the week of Nov. 9. The city distributes doorhangers at least two days ahead of street work and advises residents to avoid using water during active flushing on their block, then run cold water from an outdoor hose or faucet for two to three minutes afterward.