District To Get $50 Million Grant and $36 Million Low-Interest Loan from the State Board
By Rebecca Rubin
I’m thrilled to let you know that the District was recently awarded a $50 million grant from the State’s Proposition 1 Groundwater Implementation Grant Program! This is a substantial boost for the Pure Water Soquel Groundwater Replenishment and Seawater Intrusion Prevention Project, and we are very grateful to the State Water Resources Control Board.
The State Board also approved a $36 million very low interest (1.3%) loan through its Seawater Intrusion Control Loan Program, representing approximately $11 million in interest savings compared to original projections.
What an incredible, timely holiday gift for the District and for the entire community we serve! But there’s even more — this good news comes on top of several previous grants and loans from state and federal programs, including a federal low-interest loan from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Plus, the District recently prevailed in a court case where a challenge to Pure Water Soquel’s Environmental Impact Report was denied.
Participants gather following SWRCB approval for project funding at the Nov. 19 Board Meeting in Sacramento. Those gathered include the State Water Resources Control Board Members (Back Row: Laurel Firestone, Tam M. Dudoc, Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel, Vice-Chair Dorene D’Adamo, and Sean Maguire), Soquel Creek Water District Representatives, District partners and supporters, and the Division of Financial Assistance Staff.
This recent grant covers about half of the construction costs for the new advanced water purification facility and is of huge importance to the project and the community.
By offsetting a large portion of the local design and construction costs for the project, we are optimistic that the pressure for future necessary water rate adjustments can be reduced for our ratepayers. A new rate study and evaluation of reducing rates will begin early next year.
Why did the State decide to award the District $86 million dollars to fund Pure Water Soquel? As many of you know, California declared the Santa Cruz Mid-County groundwater basin as critically over-drafted.
This over-drafting has resulted in seawater contamination of the basin, which has been verified by a number of studies conducted by the District and the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Agency. Those studies show that seawater intrusion is occurring along the coastline, with an imminent threat of seawater contaminating the District’s water production wells (in addition to wells used by other agencies and many private well owners).
Pure Water Soquel is the first line of defense to hold back the seawater intrusion and restore our groundwater supply for current and future generations so that our children and grandchildren will also be able to depend on a clean, safe supply of water in our region.
Our Community Water Plan includes a diversified portfolio of new supplies including Pure Water Soquel and, when available, surface water and stormwater capture. While the latter two are limited in volume and dependent on rainfall, Pure Water Soquel is drought-proof and resilient to climate change.
The Pure Water Soquel project will take treated, recycled municipal wastewater and use highly advanced water treatment processes to produce 1,500 acre-feet of purified water per year.
This purified water then be used to replenish the groundwater basin and is similar to the Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System which has produced almost 300 billion gallons of purified water to put back into the groundwater basin.
In addition, the project has the significant environmental benefit of diverting millions of gallons of effluent from being disposed of daily in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The State’s support in awarding this grant demonstrates its commitment to sharing costs with our local community, and its determination to help the District to continue on-course toward a sustainable water future.
Thank you again to the State Water Resources Control Board! And thank you also to the many Pure Water Soquel champions in the community whose strong support helped push this grant over the finish line. Seriously, thanks a million!
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As always, if you have any questions about this month’s topic or anything else related to the Soquel Creek Water District feel free to contact Melanie Mow Schumacher or Rebecca Rubin at [email protected] or 831-475-8501 and visit www.soquelcreekwater.org