Modesto wants to look at alternatives to water treatment plant

Modesto wants to explore alternatives with Turlock and Ceres to building an expensive drinking water plant on the Tuolumne River.

The three cities – acting as the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority – have been working on a water treatment plant and in July reached a deal with the Turlock Irrigation District to have it provide the plant with as much as 30,000 acre-feet of river water annually.

The plant’s cost has been estimated at $150 million to $200 million. It would serve Turlock, Ceres and south Modesto.

But Modesto now is balking at paying at least $55 million for its share to build the plant and says it won’t need it once the Modesto Irrigation District completes an expansion this year of its water treatment plant. That plant provides much of the city with drinking water from the Tuolumne River.

The City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to instruct Councilman Bill Zoslocki, the city’s representative on the SRWA board, to offer the two other board members – Turlock Mayor Gary Soiseth and Ceres Mayor Chris Vierra – the option at Thursday’s SRWA meeting to postpone decisions to move the project forward until December.

City Manager Jim Holgersson and Utilities Director Larry Parlin would use the extra time to speak with Turlock and Ceres officials about alternative projects. If Soiseth and Vierra don’t want to pursue that option, the council instructed Zoslocki to vote “no” on such items as spending about $542,000 for environmental and legal services and changing the bylaws to require 2-1 votes on items. The bylaws now require 3-0 votes.

Parlin has said Modesto recently learned it would not need the SRWA plant, based on a consultant’s study, and notified its SRWA partners. The consultant is undertaking Modesto’s first water master plan, which looks at the city’s long-term needs.

Parlin said Modesto could spend $20 million to undertake its own water infrastructure improvements to serve south Modesto’s long-term needs vs. at least $55 million for the SRWA plant.

In an interview, Parlin declined to talk about alternatives to the plant but said Modesto would look at potential opportunities for Ceres and Turlock as it moves forward with its own water infrastructure projects.

Ceres and Turlock officials have expressed frustration and disappointment over Modesto’s position, but said they would continue with the project and look for other partners.

Turlock Municipal Services Director Michael Cooke asked the council to continue to participate in the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority, saying there was time to resolve any issues because the decisions to spend large amounts of money to build the plant are years away.

The project is critical for Ceres and Turlock because they rely solely on wells for drinking water. The project would lessen that reliance and improve water quality. Modesto is in better shape than many Northern San Joaquin Valley cities because it has two sources: wells and river water.

Mayor Garrad Marsh said Modesto wants to be a good partner but said there “are reasonable partnerships and unreasonable partnerships” and was concerned about the extra cost Modesto ratepayers would bear with this project. “We need to rethink this and find an alternative.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Modesto wants to look at alternatives to water treatment plant."