Recycled water means money to local agency
The San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) Board unanimously approved an agreement between the CWA and the Ramona Municipal Water District (RMWD) to provide incentive funding for RMWD’s San Vicente Water Recycling Program.
The CWA’s Feb. 26 vote provides Local Water Supply Development (LWSD) program funding of up to $200 per acre-foot of project yield to RMWD. The action also approved an agreement of the CWA, the Ramona district, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to allow Ramona to receive money from Metropolitan’s Local Resources Program incentive program. That agreement has not yet been approved by the metropolitan district.
The LWSD program provides incentives of up to $200 per acre-foot for qualifying projects that demonstrate a financial need and replace potable water demand otherwise supplied by the CWA. The 25-year agreement calls for a cap of 240 acre-feet per year. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.
A qualifying project must result in a new water supply and reduce demands upon the CWA, must demonstrate a financial need, must be undertaken or sponsored by the CWA member agency within whose service area the project is located, must have completed sufficient project planning to allow a determination of eligibility, must be in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, and must demonstrate that appropriate regulatory and public health permits have been or will be obtained.
CWA staff has determined that the required eligibility criteria has been met. The San Vicente Water Recycling Program will upgrade a pump station to increase capacity while adding a reverse osmosis unit to improve recycled water quality.
Since 2004, the Ramona district has made available up to 100 acre-feet per year of recycled water from its San Vicente Wastewater Treatment Plant to the San Vicente Golf Course, and the new project will provide 340 acre-feet annually to the golf course and surrounding landscape areas.
San Diego Country Estates Association, which owns the San Vicente Golf Course, has signed a 10-year contract with the RMWD to utilize recycled water from the project. The estimated capital cost of the project, including interest, is $1,611,342, and the estimated Fiscal Year 2009-10 annual operating costs are $635,294.
The CWA estimates that the LWSD expenditures for the 25-year period will total $1,268,000. The Ramona district expects to produce 240 acre-feet of water this year and increase that amount to 340 acre-feet by 2012.
Metropolitan’s Local Resources Program, when approved, would provide up to $1,585,000 over 25 years.