A feasibility plan examining recycled water options for the Montecito Water District was discussed at a committee meeting Monday, and the analysis suggested the district pursue a project that would provide recycled water to irrigate landscaping, including golf courses and the Santa Barbara Cemetery.
The district’s Strategic Planning Committee reviewed a draft recycled water feasibility plan that was presented by Woodard & Curran, consulting firm, which studied projects and proposed recommendations for recycled water projects to help meet future water supply needs.
Monday’s meeting came one day before an election in which Montecito-area voters will decide on board members for the water and sanitary districts, and the campaign for those races has largely featured the need for recycled water projects.
“The other agencies are already moving forward with recycled water, we haven’t, and that’s what we are doing now,” district general manager Nick Turner said at Monday’s meeting. “This certainly involved input from all of the other agencies.”
Rob Morrow, senior water resources engineer at Woodard & Curran, gave a presentation to committee members Floyd Wicks and Richard Shaikewitz, and district staff, and the full board of directors will discuss the recommendations at its Nov. 20 meeting.
The district’s 2015 Urban Water Management Plan Update recognizes the potential for recycled water to be a local, reliable supply, and “targets the delivery of 200 acre-feet per year of recycled water to district customers by 2020, and a total of 1,000 acre-feet per year by 2025,” the consultant plan notes.
Woodard & Curran’s feasibility study looked at nearly 30 possibilities for recycled water projects in Montecito, and worked to narrow down the options, Morrow said.
The draft plan considers three recycled water sources, including the Montecito Sanitary District, the city of Santa Barbara, and the Summerland Sanitary District for non-potable reuse, indirect potable reuse and direct potable reuse projects, Morrow said.
Non-potable reuse recycled water can be used for irrigating some landscaping and non-food crops.
Indirect potable reuse can include groundwater replenishment by injecting the treated water into the aquifer and later extracting it from a separate location.
Direct potable reuse is a system that treats wastewater to a level that it can be delivered into the public water system or a raw water supply upstream of a water treatment plant, according to state water code.
The feasibility plan, Morrow told the district, recommends a non-potable reuse recycled water project for irrigation at area golf courses, the cemetery and other landscapes.
The plan also suggests partnering with the Carpinteria Valley Water District on its indirect potable reuse project in the Carpinteria groundwater basin.
Morrow said alternative projects in the feasibility plan would also provide general recycled water benefits, including a local water supply that’s drought-resistant and reduces the district’s reliance on surface water.
A handful of community members who attended Monday’s meeting asked staff questions and made comments on the presentation.
The feasibility plan will be discussed by the full board of directors at its Nov. 20 meeting at the district headquarters, at 583 San Ysidro Road.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
