Modesto ready to take big steps in recycled water project

Modesto is expected to take some big steps in a roughly $100 million project to send highly treated wastewater to drought-stricken West Side farmers as soon as 2018.

The City Council is expected Wednesday to approve resolutions required for a state loan for the project, hire a consultant at a cost of $2.9 million and approve a 40-year agreement with the Patterson-based Del Puerto Water District. It would reimburse Modesto for its construction and other costs as well as provide the city with about $500,000 in annual revenue for its wastewater fund in exchange for the supply.

“This water sales agreement is it,” Modesto Utilities Director Larry Parlin said Sunday. “This is the last piece. Now we just have to build it.”

Modesto, Turlock, Del Puerto, Ceres and Stanislaus County are partners in the North Valley Regional Recycled Water Program, in which Modesto and Turlock would deliver treated wastewater via the Delta-Mendota Canal to Del Puerto’s farmers. Work on this project started in 2010.

Modesto and Turlock would build pipelines from their treatment plants to the canal as well as other infrastructure. Del Puerto farmers have been hit hard by four years of drought, and environmental regulations also have cut their water allocations. The district is roughly 53,000 acres and stretches from Vernalis to Santa Nella.

The state is requiring Modesto and Turlock to clean their wastewater almost to drinking-water quality in order to discharge it into the San Joaquin River. The project is considered an important alternative use.

Parlin said he did not know whether the Del Puerto board has approved the water sales agreement. He said Turlock is farther behind on the project than Modesto and is negotiating a water sales agreement with Del Puerto and waiting for state approval to sell water.

Here are steps the Modesto council is expected to take Wednesday:

▪  Adopt three resolutions required for Modesto’s loan application to the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Modesto is seeking a roughly $100 million, 30-year loan at 1 percent interest. Parlin said Modesto’s costs for the project should not exceed $60 million, but it is asking the state to set aside the larger amount to include what Turlock would need to borrow. The project could qualify for a $15 million state grant to offset costs.

▪  Approve a $2.9 million agreement with Walnut Creek-based Carollo Engineers for consulting services on design and construction of the project. Parlin said Del Puerto would reimburse Modesto for these costs as part of the water sales agreement. A staff report recommends hiring Carollo in part because of the project’s complexity and permitting requirements.

▪  Approve the water sales agreement with Del Puerto. Construction is expected to be finished in 2017, and Modesto is expected initially to deliver as much as 16,500 acre-feet of water annually to West Side farmers. The agreement calls for Del Puerto and its farmers to pay Modesto as much as $175 per acre-foot of water, which includes a $30 premium to Modesto’s wastewater fund.

The council is meeting Wednesday because of Tuesday’s election. The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Modesto ready to take big steps in recycled water project."