The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) recently selected global design firm Stantec to provide design for 16 miles of transmission pipelines as part of the Harvest Water program.
The program will provide tertiary-treated recycled water for growers to use to irrigate crops, instead of pumped groundwater, on 16,000 acres of agricultural lands in southern Sacramento County. The Harvest Water Program will deliver up to 50,000-acre-feet per year of recycled water from Regional San’s treatment plant in Elk Grove, to areas near the lower Cosumnes River and Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
The project aims to improve groundwater levels and stream flow, enhance groundwater-dependent riparian habitats, sustain prime agricultural lands, and improve regional water supply reliability. The use of recycled water would also mitigate risks from droughts.
The Harvest Water program is partially funded through a Proposition 1 Grant from the California Water Commission. The 16 miles of pipeline, which includes main transmission pipes up to 66 inches in diameter, accounts for about $120-130 million of the overall project costs.
“The Harvest Water program is about more than simply delivering water from Point A to Point B. It is truly about environmental stewardship, restoring groundwater levels, and improving water supply resilience in the region,” said Janet Atkinson, Stantec vice president and project manager. “We are excited to support Regional San on its precedent-setting regional recycled water program that will achieve outstanding environmental benefits.”
Pipeline construction is expected to begin in 2023 and finish in early 2025. Harvest Water was formerly known as the South County Ag Program.
