RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Aspects of the community's water supply were key topics when the Rancho Murieta Community Services District Improvements Committee met on Feb. 4.

The first topic of note was a recommendation to improve the efficiency of the two existing tanks and to construct a new water tank. These enhancements would benefit both current customers and future development.

A second topic that became a debate was whether to finalize the draft of the Integrated Master Water Plan. See Water Plan finalization debated at CSD meeting. 

The committee also discussed other infrastructure-related issues, including the dashed hope that the Sacramento County Water Agency could provide the community with a second water source.

The Improvements Committee is made up of two board members, Directors Randy Jenco and John Merchant; Operations Manager Eric Houston; General Manager Mimi Morris, who is currently on leave; and other staff. The committee examines infrastructure issues in depth and makes recommendations to the entire board.

Water Tanks

The water tank recommendations were included in a draft report by Joe Domenichelli, the district's contract engineer. Although Domenichelli did not attend the meeting, Houston explained his recommendations.

The district currently has two water tanks. The pressurized Rio Oso Tank, which holds 1.2 million gallons, serves houses north of the second Guadalupe Drive. It also has been designated as the water tank for the already approved 198-lot Residences subdivision near Stonehouse Park and for the 116-lot Village H in the proposed Rancho North subdivision. The 3-million-gallon Van Vleck Tank uses a gravity system to serve the remainder of the community.

The primary short-term recommendation in Domenichelli's report was to add two valves to enhance the existing water distribution system. One valve would directly connect the two tanks, allowing water to flow between them. Domenichelli explained that this would leverage excess storage in the Van Vleck tank to help offset the Rio Oso tank deficiency, which became particularly evident during last summer's extreme heat.

His second recommendation was to install a control valve near the water treatment plants to reduce flow to the Van Vleck tank and thereby increase flow to the Rio Oso tank. This adjustment would help mitigate the storage overdraft in the early morning during hot weather when residential sprinklers are in heavy use.

According to his report, with the appropriate physical improvements and programming, water flow could be redistributed at optimal times to sufficiently support additional units: 146 for the Van Vleck tank and 50 for the Rio Oso tank.

Houston said that the Residences subdivision developer is installing the valve to connect the two tanks directly. However, the necessary programming and integration could take months before the system becomes fully operational. Houston said the work could take six months to a year to complete.

As for the second pressure valve, Houston said district staff could provide the preliminary design, but they would have to put the construction out to bid.

Domenichelli also recommended constructing a new water tank to address the current tanks' emergency storage deficiencies and provide capacity for new dwellings coming online.

According to his report, if the pipeline supplying water to the tanks were to fail, there would only be enough water to last 24 hours under peak demand conditions, assuming the tanks were already at 66% capacity at the time of the emergency.

Domenichelli's report cautioned that building a new tank would require significant time due to various necessary components and processes.

"With the current inadequate peak storage volumes and new dwelling units planned to come online in the near future, an interim solution should be pursued right away," his report concluded.

Houston said the draft IWMP recommended constructing a new storage tank with an approximate 5-million-gallon capacity. The tank could be built on Lookout Hill or within the new development. He also suggested constructing two tanks instead of one to allow for maintenance without service interruptions and recommended using a concrete tank rather than a steel one.

Although the draft IWMP provided some cost estimates, it didn't account for the cost of land acquisition or the needed pumping equipment.

"You could easily ballpark it at $4 to 6 million," Houston said.

The ensuing discussion addressed various aspects of Domenichelli's report, with several references to a comment made by developer Bob Keil at the June committee meeting. Keil indicated he could provide the half-acre needed for a new tank within the Residences subdivision.

Merchant directed Houston to return to the March committee meeting with "the beginnings of a plan"  on the interim fix and plans for a new tank. "Then we could take it to the board and see if everybody buys in on it," he said.

Water Agency Pipeline

The district began discussions with the Sacramento County Water Agency about the feasibility of constructing a pipeline to supply a secondary water source to Rancho Murieta after developer Bob Keil suggested the idea last October. The board approved Houston's proposal to allocate $30,000 from the Water Supply Augmentation Fund to pay the agency for a feasibility study.

However, when district staff met with the water agency, they determined the project was not currently feasible. The projected timeline for completing a feasibility study was approximately 10 years, with approvals and construction taking 15 to 20 years. The estimated cost was $20 million.

Houston said the reserve funds approved for the study were never deposited or spent.

Other Business

Houston said district staff is holding preliminary discussions with the Sloughhouse Water Conservation District about potential groundwater banking opportunities to improve the community's water supply.

Houston also reported researching whether seepage current being pumped from wells under the reservoirs into creeks could be used to offset the district's water supply.

The operations manager also reported that he is negotiating with SMUD to test the district's 500-watt pumps at the Granlees intake without triggering a higher rate.

Houston also reported on plans to assess the condition of the buried steel pipeline that connects Granlees and Calero reservoirs, noting that it may need more protection. A section of the pipe that developed a leak last fall has been repaired.

Houston also reported adding four projects to the Capital Improvements Project List. The first was the completed repair of the Greens Lift Station. The second was the addition of two valves to the existing water tanks. The third was constructing a radio tower to enable wireless reading of water meters. The fourth was replacing the AT&T analog phone lines used in water and sewer operations with cellular phones.