Posted by: thepinetree on 05/16/2014 03:03 PM
Updated by: thepinetree on 05/16/2014 03:25 PM
Expires: 01/01/2019 12:00 AM
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CCWD Awards Scholarships, Moves Forward With Improvement Projects
San Andreas, CA...Calaveras High School senior Kelly Airola beamed as she accepted a $500 scholarship at the Calaveras County Water District’s board meeting Wednesday, May 14. “Thank you for this generous scholarship,” she said. “It’s a great honor and it means so much to me.” Airola earned the scholarship after her essay was selected, along with James Sommers who is a senior at Bret Harte High School, from about 30 entries. The Calaveras County Water District awards two scholarships each year to deserving students using funds from its Water Resources Education Fund. “Thank you for this scholarship,” Sommers said. “Next year I’m going to U.C. Davis and majoring in biology. Then I plan to go to dental school.” Both students read their winning essays aloud in the board room. After a round of applause, CCWD Director Jeff Davidson lauded the students for taking an interest in water. “You’re both exceptional kids and will have a great future,” he said, adding he would be pleased to see Airola and Sommers work for the water district one day...
 
Moving along on the agenda, the board authorized an engineering and design contract with Domenichelli and Associates to replace two aging redwood tanks and pipelines that serve Calaveras Big Trees State Park and the surrounding subdivisions. The projects will be funded in large part by an $870,000 grant from the California Office of Emergency Services/Federal Emergency Management Agency. The district will pay $290,000 in matching funds along with an additional $44,160 to augment the engineering and design budget. The redwood tanks are susceptible to being destroyed by fire, which is why they qualified for the grant money.
Next on the agenda was a resolution to approve the design and engineering for a large wastewater project that is part of the district’s Repair and Renovation program. The contract was awarded to Blackwater Engineering. This project will replace Copper Cover/Poker Flat lift stations 8, 12 and 13, along with the installation of a 4,300-foot force main sewer pipeline along O’Byrnes Ferry Road, which replaces the existing sewer line that is very near Lake Tulloch.
“This project reduces the potential for a spill into Lake Tulloch, which is not only a heavily used recreation lake, it’s also our water supply,” said CCWD General Manger Mitch Dion. “Once this is complete, it significantly decreases the likelihood of a spill. These lift stations have also become badly deteriorated.”
Along with investing in infrastructure projects, district board members also focused on voluntary water conservation at Wednesday’s meeting.
“We are in a serious drought statewide,” Dion told the board. “Generally speaking, we have adequate water for our ratepayers through this year. However, we want to be aware of the drought,” he said, adding that the district should emphasize voluntary water conservation measures.
Director Davidson said he wasn’t in favor of heavily promoting water conservation. Rather, he prefers to advocate for education of CCWD customers on how to use water wisely.
“We are a water rich county,” Davidson said. “I think it’s important that our residents realize that we have a good resource and we want them to manage it responsibly, but we also want them to use the water.”
Davidson suggested partnering with nurseries in the area to distribute educational materials that go beyond the district’s existing toilet rebate program, which allows customers to save $25 if they replace a high-flow toilet with a low-flow toilet (ccwd.org/pdf/info/conserve/032014_ToiletRebateFlyer.pdf).
Director Don Stump suggested continuing to work with members of the Calaveras Master Gardeners on using best practices for gardening and landscaping during the drought.
Director Bob Dean said he was proud that the district recently held a native plant sale at its headquarters. “To my knowledge, that was (one of the first times) that a water district has gotten together with a native plant society group and held a native plant sale,” Dean said. “I think it’s a very positive thing.” The board moved on to pass a resolution that calls for all California residents to use water wisely and heighten their conservation efforts during this extreme drought. The resolution reiterates the district’s commitment to make significant investment in infrastructure and repairs to reduce water loss and improve
efficiency of water deliveries to customers.
Next on the docket, CCWD Auditor-Controller Patricia Christensen informed the board that between Dec. 31, 2013, and March 31, 2014, the total cash and investment of the district increased from $19.2 million to $21.1 million. The bulk of this increase, $2,002,643, came from the receipt of CCWD’s portion
of county property taxes. The board next addressed a resolution that would authorize a contract for Stanislaus River modeling. Directors approved $87,410 for a contract with ECORP Environmental Consultants along with $25,000 in associated legal and staff costs.
“Ultimately, we are looking at creating a model for the Stanislaus that is comprehensive enough to determine whose water is going where, when,” Dion said. “This is a core document to understand the river.” During his report to the board, Dion updated directors on reservoir levels: New Melones Reservoir contained about 842,000 acre feet of a possible 2.4 million acre feet. Dion said that agricultural interests were beginning to draw down the reservoir to water crops, which will cause the reservoir’s level to drop throughout the summer, especially when paired with evaporation.
New Hogan Reservoir contained about 100,000 acre feet at last measurement of a total capacity of 317,000 acre feet (an acre foot is the amount of water it would take to cover an acre of land with one foot of water). “It looks like we’ll be OK this year,” Dion said, referring to the amount of water in Hogan that CCWD can access. “Dead pool is around 10,000 acre feet.”
Dion also brought the board up to speed on the ongoing work of installing a roughly $3 million project that includes new water lines to serve Fly-In Acres near Arnold. The brand new pipelines complete replace the aging infrastructure in place and will allow the area to meet fire
flow requirements. All 180 customers in Fly-In Acres are expected to be hooked into the new system in early August.
To view the full board packet for the May 14 meeting, go to ccwd.org/pdf/bod/bod_2014/05142014_bdpk.pdf. For more information, visit ccwd.org or call 754-3543.
The next board meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 28, at 120 Toma Court, San Andreas.
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