Now Only 5 Years Until New WRF is Operating by Jack McCurdy

Summary: It's been nine years since the state ordered Morro Bay and Cayucos to stop using the old sewage plant and develop a new one. The previous city councils got nowhere and when the last one of those councils left office in 2012, no progress had been made, costing the city millions for the eight-year delay. But a new council, composed of mayor Jamie Irons and council members Christine Johnson and Noah Smukler, took over last year and have developed a five-year plan to provide residents with a new WRF, which means a brand, new plant is expected to be completed and running in 2019. Cost to Morro Bay residents for water? That is unknown at this point, but it is almost sure to go up. But the offsetting big benefit will be an abundant supply of reliable water, which the city doesn't have now.

Just a few months ago, the time it would take to build a new Morro Bay water reclamation facility (WRF, also known as a wastewater treatment plant or WWTP) was estimated at seven to ten years (See: New Site). But that ten years was cut in half — to five years — by the city staff and the Morro Bay City Council in adopting a plan for construction and operation of a new facility last Tuesday night.

More than anything, perhaps, Morro Bay residents are eager to know what a new WRF is going to cost them. The cost for use of water in households is going to go up, that is certain, city staff reports. But how much is unknown — it is too early, they point out, to predict because the site of the new plant and the technology for that facility have not been determined. And won't be for about a year and a half. Even then, the rate schedule for the new plant that could ease those rate increases may not have been finalized.

How water might be shared will be addressed, with the meeting open to public input and questions and answers. In addition, the Council plans to form an advisory committee of residents to participate in the WRF planning and review over the next five years. All this and more is scheduled by the Council to be discussed at the city's Water Summit Wednesday, March 12, starting at 6 p.m at the Vets Hall.

Right now, the city utility billing office reported, the average household charge for water in Morro Bay is about $43 plus $33 for sewer for a total of $76 (that's for six units of water, although many residents use less and therefore pay less, about $22 for four units of water).

The estimated cost for water and sewer would run about $120 per user if the plant is located at the Righetti property in Morro Valley, the staff's top-rated site — at the moment. That's $44 more than the current $76 average. Not that it is the most expensive site under consideration, it's just the only one with a price tag at this early stage.

But the Righetti property could be passed over, given the uncertainties surrounding the location of the WRF site right now. Even if it is chosen, the whole picture of costs and fees is likely to change down the road. For example, Public Services Director Rob Livick, noted that a new conservation rate is likely to be included in the city schedule, which would be a valuable tool for residents to use to save money. All that is up in the air and yet to be discussed.

So the ultimate cost of water in Morro Bay with a new WRF is premature to estimate right now.

Whatever it is, the benefit appears certain to outweigh the cost. Morro Bay will be getting a reliable and abundant supply of water, compared to the uncertainty surrounding its water supplies now. At this time, Morro Bay is faced with not knowing whether its water will be there when residents need it, perhaps even in the near future. Most of the water comes from the state water project, and the state is not guaranteeing anything regarding water supplies to local agencies.

Some months ago, the planning team of John Rickenbach/Michael Nunley estimated it would cost $90 million to $110 million to build a new WRF. But no such estimates have been made under the five-year development plan. The cost of building it in five years is expected to surface when the Final Facilities Master Plan is completed in December, 2015, according to the approved time schedule. And shortening the time it will take to build and activate a new facility will save the city — and residents — substantial money, Livick pointed out. Richenbach's and Nunley's contract has been extended to include project management.

"Staff believes that there could be an overall savings by accelerating the project due to the time value of money and by ceasing operation at the existing wastewater treatment plant sooner," Livick's report stated.

The site of the new plant is scheduled to be selected by next August, with completion and operational startup of it by February 25, 2019. The city staff report lists the Righetti Morro Valley site first for development with a Chorro Valley site second. (The Righetti site is located just north of Highway 41 a few miles east of the city, and the Chorro Valley site is located along the north side of Highway 1 at South Bay Boulevard.)

But the final site for the plant is very much up in the air with the California Mens Colony (CMC) sewage plant still in the running, especially should the county decide to advocate or support a regional cooperative for Morro Bay, the CMC, and, probably, Cayucos. Cayucos must also find a new sewage plant in place of the old, existing Morro Bay plant that both Morro Bay and Cayucos now use and depend on. That means a lot of pipes to pump sewage from Morro Bay and possibly Cayucos to the CMC (just off of Highway 1 slightly east of Cuesta College).

So now this new Morro Bay Council is expecting to accomplish in five years what it took previous councils eight years to accomplish nothing — not even a plan half-way acceptable to state agencies. (The City and the Cayucos Sanitary District, partners under their Joint Powers Agreement, JPA, were ordered by the state to build a new plant in 2005. This new Council, composed of mayor Jamie Irons and Council members Christine Johnson and Noah Smukler, were elected in 2012 and gained working control of city policies in January, 2013. One of their main goals is to get a new WRF built as soon as possible, especially with the shortage of state water looming on the horizon).

The full council voted 5-0 in favor of the WRF Tuesday night, but council member Nancy Johnson said she was "not in favor of the (plan) but will vote for it."

The city staff report on the plan (see PDF file: Staff Report) said it is the goal to "reduce the number of sites to one to compare to the CMC Option by April, 2014." That seems to mean that in two months, the staff and Council will need to consider either the Morro Valley or Chorro Valley sites or the CMC plant to handle Morro Bay effluent and possible the same for Cayucos. Robert Enns, president of the Cayucos board, has said famously that Cayucos doesn't need water — from a new WRF — because Cayucos has four private water companies that provide Cayucos residents with water. That may make it unlikely for Cayucos to join Morro Bay in developing a new WRF. even though Cayucos needs somewhere to dispose of its sewage.

Two months ago, on December 10, the Council affirmed project goals to produce tertiary, disinfected wastewater from the WRF under Title 22 requirements of the California code of regulations, which means the WRF would generate water for household use, including drinking, under this provision or some other that will be utilized for this purpose.

Thus, the Morro Bay WRF is coming down to the wire but is far from settled.

Here is the timeline approved by the Council for development of the WRF:

 — Reduce the number of potential sites to one to compare to the CMC option by April, 2014.
 — Final site selection by August, 2014.
 — Finalize facilities master plan by December, 2015.
 — Finalize environmental document by August, 2016.
 — Complete permitting process by December, 2016.
 — Finalize design; if design build/process is used, only 30% design is required by August, 2017.
 — Complete construction and startup by February 25, 2019.

The Council directed staff to simultaneously work with other potential partner agencies (Cayucos, for example) to examine the feasibility of a regional facility at the CMC site that could serve the needs of both Morro Bay and these partner agencies. Depending on the outcome of this investigation, the city could choose to either pursue a regional facility at the CMC, or continue its efforts at building a facility at one of its three preferred locations, Righetti, Chorro Valley or Giannini property, just east of the city limits. Or possibly a site yet to be identified.