A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 28, 2007
2. Supply
CASTAIC LAKE WATER AGENCY:
Pipeline Project Nearly Finished - Santa Clarita Signal
URBAN WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
City under pressure to our more water - Modesto Bee
CASTAIC LAKE WATER AGENCY:
Pipeline Project Nearly Finished
Santa Clarita Signal – 6/28/07
By Katherine Geyer, staff writer
After five months of delays, Castaic Lake Water Agency officials hope that a $50 million pipeline that will deliver state water to Santa Clarita's growing east side communities will open by the end of July.
The CLWA plans to ask its board of directors in July to approve an additional $80,000 to pay the construction management company to finish work on the reservoir, the final stage of the project.
The project started in early 2005 and was scheduled to be completed last February. In March, the deadline was extended to May when the board approved an additional $70,000 for construction management firm Flowers & Baum and $100,000 to a design firm to oversee the repairs. The additional $80,000 would extend the timeline until August.
"We're hoping, fingers crossed, the end of July," said Brian Folsom, CLWA's engineering and operations manager. "We're about 95 percent done," he said.
The contractors had spent months patching and repairing areas that showed potential for leakage, and those areas have now been repaired, Folsom said.
CLWA documentation shows the project has been extended due to "poor planning, schedule management and general overall workmanship by the contractor." CLWA had already budgeted nearly $2.7 million for Flowers & Baum. Folsom said he did not yet know if the agency will be asking for the approval of a budget increase for the construction design firm as well.
CLWA officials have said the agency will be recovering a portion of the funds from the contractor through liquidated damages, but Canyon Country resident Ed Dunn said that's not enough.
"It has been a big drain on the finances," he said. "They shouldn't be using the taxpayers' money to straighten out the mistakes the contractors make."
Once completed, the project will deliver 7 million gallons of water to the east side of the valley. Residents of the east side communities rely more on state water because their groundwater wells are the first to dry up in a drought year. #
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=49263&format=html
URBAN WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
City under pressure to our more water
By Michelle Hatfield, staff writer
CERES — The garden hose with very little oomph. The shower head that trickles so little water you can barely rinse shampoo from your hair. And it gets worse in the summer, when everyone seems to be using more water.
Water pressure is an issue in some Ceres neighborhoods, and so is the current system's cost.
Ceres relies almost completely on groundwater from wells. Compared with surface water, groundwater is costlier to treat and wells are more expensive to build and maintain, city officials said.
The city has entered into an agreement with the Turlock Irrigation District to purchase surface water beginning in 2011.
The city probably will need five wells before then, according to a water system report released in May.
Ceres officials have started overhauling the water system to guarantee basic and adequate pressure levels.
Ceres has eight active wells; an additional four were on standby or out of service when the May report was completed.
The report lists water pressures from last summer. During peak hours, most of Ceres was getting water at or below 20pounds per square inch, the pressure at which water is pumped through pipes and faucets. A small portion of the southwest end of town saw 20 to 30 psi.
The ideal level is 40to 65 psi, according to the report.
"People are not getting the pressure they need," said Ken Craig, community development director.
The report developed a com-puter model of the city's water system. One of the goals was to measure efforts to improve the system, which the report showed were on track, Craig said. The water analysis is ongoing.
Last year, wells went down during the summer, severely limiting pressure for residents and businesses.
Officials said they think the problem has been fixed.
"We believe we're ready, save for any unexpected well failure," Craig said. "We do want a more comfortable margin of error."
Also at issue are changes to guidelines for water quality. The Environmental Protection Agency has tightened restrictions on what is considered quality drinking water.
Groundwater has to have dangerous chemicals removed, while surface water requires less intensive treatment, Craig said. The increased regulations make it harder and more expensive to get water, officials said.
"It's the same water people have been drinking for 75 years and they haven't dropped like flies," said Steve Wilson, Ceres' director of municipal utilities.
The report estimated it would cost $73.5 million to fix the water system, including new storage tanks, groundwater wells and pipelines. The money will come from new development, Craig said. The city already has collected $17 million from public facility fees, according to the report. #
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13735510p-14320186c.html
####
No comments:
Post a Comment