CCWD in the ring for state grant funding

After five years of struggling to work together, the Tuolumne-Stanislaus Integrated Regional Water Management Program –which includes local water agencies like Calaveras County Water and Murphys Sanitary districts – put forth a package of prioritized projects that may qualify for state grant funding

Participating agencies have been working to better understand each other’s objectives and duties as well as craft an Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, so the Mother Lode region would be eligible to apply for millions of dollars in funding for water resources and flood management projects.

Getting the various participants, including the general public, to embrace an integrated approach to planning and developing projects has not been an easy task.

The application for the bond funds can be for projects such as local water supply, wastewater, watershed, and ecosystem restoration grants. If successful, the Tuolumne-Stanislaus IRWM, over time, has the potential to bring tens of millions of dollars to Tuolumne and Calaveras counties to improve water supply reliability, water quality, water treatment facilities, wastewater treatment, watershed management activities, water use efficiency measures and ecosystem restoration actions.

The projects endorsed by the IRWM group will be submitted to the State Department of Water Resources with the hope the local package of projects will prevail amidst stiff competition from competing applications from IRWM groups representing other areas.

Mitch Dion, general manager of CCWD noted, “I am new to my job here in Calaveras, but I am not new to IRWM programs. Our district is now working in two IRWM regions, one in the Mokelumne watershed and one here in the Tuolumne and Stanislaus watersheds. I am encouraged by the progress made here and I anticipate funding in the future to help in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties and provide benefits to the customers we serve.”

Calaveras County projects include the following:

Murphys Sanitary District – A Facility Improvement Project would begin to address insufficient wastewater treatment capacity and enable recycled water to be used for beneficial purposes.

Calaveras County Water District – The Douglas Flat/Vallecito Storage Pond Project will address insufficient wastewater storage capacity in order to reduce potential groundwater contamination and utilize recycled wastewater for agricultural and other beneficial uses in this DAC area. In total, the funding requested for all projects is roughly $3,635,000. For questions relating to Calaveras County projects, contact Jeff Meyer at 754-3102.