Elk Grove's eco-friendly recycled water plan faces major setback amid rising costs

CBS News

a day ago

ELK GROVE — A plan to irrigate Elk Grove parks, trees and plants with treated sewage water is in jeopardy. The recycled water was supposed to benefit the city's last large-scale urban development, but city officials now say using recycled water won't work.
A new 1,200-acre neighborhood near Bruceville and Kammerer roads in Elk Grove was supposed to be an example of environmental conservation. It is designed to be drought-tolerant by using treated sewage water in parks and landscaping.
"It's really an environmental stewardship," said public works director Jeff Werner. "Recycled water preserves the use of surface water and potable water."
Many streets are already equipped with dedicated purple pipes to deliver reclaimed water, but now this eco-friendly Harvest Water project is going down the drain.
Werner is recommending that the city cancel the recycled water program in this southeast neighborhood.
"The estimated cost of the system has jumped nearly $17 million over the past couple of years," he said. "The city and taxpayers in other areas would have to subsidize the cost of the system."
Construction on the Harvest Water project is already underway along Franklin Boulevard. Crews are laying more than 40 miles of underground pipes that will deliver recycled water from the regional sewage treatment plant, through Elk Grove, and to farms in southern Sacramento County.
Up to two and a half million gallons of recycled water a day were supposed to go to this neighborhood, which will eventually add 17,000 new residents.
"If the project isn't affordable, really, this becomes a burden on the taxpayer," Werner said.
The Sacramento Area Sewer District says the loss of Elk Grove customers won't jeopardize the project and reclaimed water will still be used in the East Franklin and Laguna Ridge areas.
"This was really an initiative that the city was hopeful to implement, but that doesn't always work out," Werner said.
The total Harvest Water project is expected to cost nearly $600 million, and construction is scheduled to be completed in 2027.