RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Water supply for future development was a key focus when the Rancho
Murieta Community Services Improvement Committee met on March 12.

During the meeting, Operations Director Michael Fritschi provided an update on the progress of the Integrated Water Master Plan (IWMP). The study uses a data-based approach to forecast the community’s water
needs over the next 20 years. The community’s water supply is a concern because of upcoming development, climate change, and potential state curtailments of the Cosumnes River.

Fritschi said the consultants working on the IWMP will present the results of the third and final phase of the study at the April 17 board meeting. The board will review these findings once more on May 15. Residents will also have the opportunity to voice their opinions at a town hall meeting scheduled for May 30.

Audience member John Merchant, a past CSD board member who is vice-president of Save Our Lakes & Open Spaces (SOLOS) provided an update about the Rancho North subdivision that is proposing to build 697 lots. Merchant said the fifth revision of the application submitted to Sacramento County on Feb. 27 now includes plans for developing a 39-acre parcel next to the CSD Building with 160 apartments and 88 residential lots.

The 39-acre plan was first presented to the Improvements Committee in December. But the development’s engineer Mike Robertson said they were “just kicking around some ideas” and hadn’t made a formal submission to the county.

The Rancho North developer is an investment group led by Carol Anderson Ward, who owns the hotel, equestrian center, and the golf courses. Tony Velez has replaced the late John Sullivan as the representative for the investment group

The 39-acre plan hadn’t been submitted as a mapped parcel when the consultants prepared the second phase of the IWMP, in which they estimated the community’s current and future water demands. The first phase considered the current and future water supply.

Fritschi told the committee that he believed the consultants have included the apartments and 88 residential lots in their study as part of the worst-case scenario. The River Valley Times was unable to reach Fritschi for confirmation before the deadline for this story.

Contacted after the meeting, Fritschi said the consultants had assumed a slightly higher water use for the parcel than would be needed for 160 apartments, 88 lots, and other uses. “It made no sense to go back in and rework the model,” he said

The first two phases of the IWMP have been posted on the CSD website.

The Improvements Committee is comprised of Directors Jenco and Martin Pohll, Fritschi, General Manager Mimi Morris, and other staff. The group looks at infrastructure issues in depth and reports its findings and recommendations to the entire board.