The city of San Diego and East County leaders have resolved a months-long dispute over a planned water recycling project, heading off a potentially expensive court fight over what to do with the plant’s waste.
A San Diego committee has approved a series of agreements between the city and a planned water recycling project in East County, potentially heading off a court fight over a plant that could help hundreds of thousands of people. The documents pave the way for San Diego to hand over a pump station to the Advanced Water Purification Project, and for the construction of a pipeline so waste generated by East County can be diverted from the city.
Leaders of a planned water recycling project in East County asked a court Tuesday for permission to take control of a pump station from the city of San Diego, escalating a dispute over the future of a plant that could serve hundreds of thousands of people.
Lawyers from the Advanced Water Purification Project submitted a motion in California Superior Court to seize the East Mission Gorge Pump Station.
A new estimated cost for the Advanced Water Purification project, a system of recapturing sewage and transforming it to drinkable water for about 500,000 East County residents, escalated to about $850 million, an increase of more than $300 million above the estimate three years ago.
Allen Carlisle, general manager of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District, revealed the number at a public forum held April 24 in Santee, saying the project should begin construction this summer.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
