California is no stranger to drought, and for decades, the state’s governors have been urging residents to conserve water. About 20 years ago, Assembly Bill 2572 was signed, requiring water suppliers to install water meters on all water connections by 2025. However, a water meter shortage is getting in the way of meeting that deadline.
A pier in Santa Cruz split in half. Extensive flooding in Soquel Village, Capitola and Planada. Vital bridges badly battered or closed. More than 500 reported mudslides across California in the last few weeks, including some that damaged homes and cars in L.A. hillside communities.
The atmospheric river storms that pummeled California for weeks inflicted “extensive” damage to as many as 40 of the state’s 58 counties, and total repairs could reach as much as $1 billion, according to authorities.
One of the largest public works projects in Sacramento’s history has been quietly under construction, out of sight for most people in the region.
Sacramento RegionalSan is upgrading its wastewater processing facility in Elk Grove, which processes wastewater from customers across Sacramento County, and West Sacramento in Yolo County. On an average day, 150 million gallons of wastewater is handled at the facility.
You can’t water your lawn more than twice a week in the city or Sacramento during summer, and never on Thursday or Friday. For thousands of Sacramento County residents, the limit is three days a week. In Roseville, there’s no watering between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Customers of the San Juan Water District have five days to fix leaks, and hosing down the driveway or sidewalk is off-limits in Elk Grove. Long before Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for the Sacramento region — and much of the rest of California — area residents were already dealing with an assortment of restrictions on water consumption, depending on their supplier.
Planning efforts with farmers and preliminary designs are underway for what is expected to be one of the largest water recycling projects in California.
The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District is constructing the $375 million South Sacramento County Agriculture & Habitat Lands Recycled Water Program, or the South County Ag Program. As part of the wastewater provider’s $2 billion treatment plant upgrade, the district—known as Regional San—will construct new transmission and distribution pipelines to deliver recycled water from its treatment facility in Elk Grove to irrigation systems in southern Sacramento County.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
