Matthew
01-29-2008, 01:42 PM
The El Dorado Irrigation District is pondering building two reservoirs to store recycled water, a potential boon to water users.
The plan is in the early stages and difficult obstacles, like cost and location have not been worked out.
But developers and county water officials urged the board not to abandon efforts to expand storage capacity. Instead, they called for the district to look beyond El Dorado County to develop a market and a delivery system for recycled water.
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"Recycled water is as important as potable water," Albert Hazbun told the board Monday. "It is going to be the only source of additional water there will be here in the state."
The El Dorado Irrigation District is a water utility serving nearly 100,000 residents in El Dorado County, according to its Web site.
Hazbun, a civil engineer, oversaw development of the recycled water system for El Dorado Hills' Serrano development.
The district's recycled water program began on a small scale in the late 1970s. It expanded significantly in the 1990s when Serrano began using treated water from the district's wastewater treatment plants for golf course and residential irrigation.
In 2004, the district board adopted a policy requiring new development to use recycled water for outdoor irrigation wherever feasible.
In addition to stretching the district's drinking water supplies, officials say the use of recycled water saves wastewater customers money by eliminating treatment costs that would be incurred if the wastewater were discharged into streams.
Since 2003, staff members reported Monday, recycled water demand in the district has nearly doubled, from 2,177 acre-feet to 3,869 acre-feet in 2007.
An acre-foot is the amount of water required to cover an acre of to the depth of one foot.
From an original list of 20 possible locations for the reservoirs, two have been selected for further study.
One is west of Latrobe Road and south of the Blackstone development in El Dorado Hills, and south of the district's El Dorado Hills Wastewater Treatment Plant. AKT Development owns much of the property.
The other site is immediately south of the Deer Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. It includes land owned by the district, Parker Development Co. and the firm G3 Enterprises Inc.
Proposals for the sites involve constructing earthen dams, or embankments - 129 feet high at Deer Creek and 77 feet high in El Dorado Hills.
The Deer Creek reservoir would cover 42 acres and store 2,500 acre-feet of water, and the El Dorado Hills reservoir would cover 73 acres with a volume of 2,560 acre-feet.
Both would include spillways to protect the earthen dams from failure in 100-year-storm, the type that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
Consultants said they did not have cost estimates for the seasonal storage projects. The feasibility study is to be completed this spring, and the board will decide how to proceed this summer.
But some board members said the information presented Monday was enough to make them question the project's feasibility.
"When you look at all the potential problems, I can't imagine that treating that wastewater would be more expensive," director John Fraser said. "We don't know what we're facing when we store all that water in a new area."
Kirk Bone of Serrano Associates said storage capacity for recycled water would be critical in a drought it water from Folsom Lake were restricted.
He urged the board to think regionally.
Bill Hetland, general manager of the El Dorado County Water Agency, said the agency would be willing to help the district develop partnerships with other water agencies that might participate in regional storage facilities.
Seven of the 20 potential reservoir sites the district analyzed were in Sacramento County, south of Highway 50, in locations that could serve the area the city of Folsom proposes to annex.
Director George Wheeldon said he remains committed pursuing seasonal storage facilities. In addition to the city of Folsom and other water agencies, the district might find a market for recycled water among industries in the region, he said.
The reservoirs also might have recreational features but just what those might be would be determined further along in the process.
The El Dorado Irrigation District is a water utility serving nearly 100,000 residents in El Dorado County, according to its Web site.
The plan is in the early stages and difficult obstacles, like cost and location have not been worked out.
But developers and county water officials urged the board not to abandon efforts to expand storage capacity. Instead, they called for the district to look beyond El Dorado County to develop a market and a delivery system for recycled water.
Click here to find out more!
"Recycled water is as important as potable water," Albert Hazbun told the board Monday. "It is going to be the only source of additional water there will be here in the state."
The El Dorado Irrigation District is a water utility serving nearly 100,000 residents in El Dorado County, according to its Web site.
Hazbun, a civil engineer, oversaw development of the recycled water system for El Dorado Hills' Serrano development.
The district's recycled water program began on a small scale in the late 1970s. It expanded significantly in the 1990s when Serrano began using treated water from the district's wastewater treatment plants for golf course and residential irrigation.
In 2004, the district board adopted a policy requiring new development to use recycled water for outdoor irrigation wherever feasible.
In addition to stretching the district's drinking water supplies, officials say the use of recycled water saves wastewater customers money by eliminating treatment costs that would be incurred if the wastewater were discharged into streams.
Since 2003, staff members reported Monday, recycled water demand in the district has nearly doubled, from 2,177 acre-feet to 3,869 acre-feet in 2007.
An acre-foot is the amount of water required to cover an acre of to the depth of one foot.
From an original list of 20 possible locations for the reservoirs, two have been selected for further study.
One is west of Latrobe Road and south of the Blackstone development in El Dorado Hills, and south of the district's El Dorado Hills Wastewater Treatment Plant. AKT Development owns much of the property.
The other site is immediately south of the Deer Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. It includes land owned by the district, Parker Development Co. and the firm G3 Enterprises Inc.
Proposals for the sites involve constructing earthen dams, or embankments - 129 feet high at Deer Creek and 77 feet high in El Dorado Hills.
The Deer Creek reservoir would cover 42 acres and store 2,500 acre-feet of water, and the El Dorado Hills reservoir would cover 73 acres with a volume of 2,560 acre-feet.
Both would include spillways to protect the earthen dams from failure in 100-year-storm, the type that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
Consultants said they did not have cost estimates for the seasonal storage projects. The feasibility study is to be completed this spring, and the board will decide how to proceed this summer.
But some board members said the information presented Monday was enough to make them question the project's feasibility.
"When you look at all the potential problems, I can't imagine that treating that wastewater would be more expensive," director John Fraser said. "We don't know what we're facing when we store all that water in a new area."
Kirk Bone of Serrano Associates said storage capacity for recycled water would be critical in a drought it water from Folsom Lake were restricted.
He urged the board to think regionally.
Bill Hetland, general manager of the El Dorado County Water Agency, said the agency would be willing to help the district develop partnerships with other water agencies that might participate in regional storage facilities.
Seven of the 20 potential reservoir sites the district analyzed were in Sacramento County, south of Highway 50, in locations that could serve the area the city of Folsom proposes to annex.
Director George Wheeldon said he remains committed pursuing seasonal storage facilities. In addition to the city of Folsom and other water agencies, the district might find a market for recycled water among industries in the region, he said.
The reservoirs also might have recreational features but just what those might be would be determined further along in the process.
The El Dorado Irrigation District is a water utility serving nearly 100,000 residents in El Dorado County, according to its Web site.