A study of water issues in
the Valley Springs and Wallace areas was endorsed by Calaveras County Water
District directors Wednesday morning.
They voted 5-0 to join the Valley Springs Utility District in the study, and
possibly a couple of other agencies as well.
CCWD General Manager David Andres said he had contacted the Wallace Community
Services District about joining the effort, and would be doing the same with
the San Andreas-based Calaveras Public Utility District.
If all four agencies
participate, the study would review water needs in the Valley Springs, Wallace
and Toyon areas.
The Valley Springs Utility District is already working with CCWD on providing
more water for some of its projects (see related story).
CPUD is looking at the possibility of providing water to the Toyon area, Andres
said.
And many homes in the
Wallace area have little if any water because they are on failing wells.
The $50,000 cost of the study would be split proportionally among the
participating agencies, which would make up the expenditure later.
"New developers will be paying the cost of this study," Andres said.
"Most of (the large
developers) are willing to fund this as part of their own overhead,"
Andres said.
Director Jeff Davidson said the study cannot just focus on the large
developers.
As an example, he noted that VSPUD can't accept any new customers, even someone
with just one lot.
Director Ed Rich suggested
changing the language of the resolution so that instead of developers, property
owners who would be served would reimburse the cost.
The district doesn't want to appear to be doing this for specific developers,
Rich said. The area should be viewed as a basin for anyone who needs service,
he said.
Discussion at times overlapped with VSPUD's efforts to purchase CCWD water from
New Hogan Reservoir for the Ponte Ranch project and its current customers (see
related story).
Davidson said the study
should reveal what impact future service would have on current customers.
VSPUD, has just one well to serve about 275 customers and its sewage treatment
plant is old and has come under close state scrutiny the past 12 months.
The district may be too small and struggling to meet all the present and future
needs of the area, and it might make more economic sense to have all of them as
CCWD customers, Davidson said.
The study is scheduled to
begin June 1, Andres said, and the participants could get a first draft report
by September.
Contact Craig Koscho at ckoscho@calaverasenterprise.com.