A View From Harbor Street
By David Buckingham
After years of fits and starts, the planning, design and construction of the City’s new Water Reclamation Facility is off and running.
A project of this magnitude is a marathon, not a sprint, but we have left the starting line and are making clear progress. At well-attended City Council study session earlier this week, staff provided an overview of the project, a status update, and answered many great questions from the community and the Council.
Before providing a somewhat detailed status update below, a quick recap of the overall project may be of interest. The City is replacing our existing 62-year-old, oceanfront wastewater treatment plant. The new WRF will be built well inland, will allow the community to recover and reuse most of the million gallons of water a day we dump into the ocean, and will allow for appropriate, public-serving redevelopment of the nearly 30 oceanfront acres on which the existing plant currently sits.
While this “managed retreat” from the beach is a huge endeavor, the long-term benefits of recovering almost as much water as the City consumes every day, replacing the existing plant with a more efficient and more advanced treatment process, and the cleanup and transformation of 30 beachfront acres, is a legacy of real improvement that will pass to future generations in the form of a more secure water supply, a cleaner environment and a better, beautiful ocean access for all to enjoy.
The council-adopted community goals for the new project, from providing cost-effective reuse of water to design for energy recovery, remain front and center in the planning, design and building process.
While there is much to be done, much has been accomplished already, as we have crossed the starting line and begun the race.
Last week, with strong supporting recommendations from City staff and the WRF Citizens Advisory Committee (WRFCAC) the Council hired a local firm, Michael K. Nunley and Associates, Inc., (MKN), to serve as the program management team for the project.
Program Manager, Mike Nunley and his team, are effectively an extension of City staff, reporting to the city manager (me), with responsibility to orchestrate and oversee all aspects of the program — from initial planning and permitting through design, construction and initial operation.
While MKN’s performance will be reviewed regularly, and formally every year, and can be terminated if required, the management team is on an 8-year contract and will take the project through the entire marathon.
Even before the program manager was hired, staff began a four-facet analysis to confirm our preferred construction site at Rancho Colina MHP has no “fatal flaws.” The cultural and groundwater assessments are ongoing, with no red flags yet, and the biological and geotechnical analyses are both nearly complete and look good.
The overall WRF program is planned in two phases. Phase I is construction of a facility to clean wastewater and treat it to tertiary standards with disinfection. The 5-year Phase 1 will allow us to decommission the existing beachfront plant.
Phase II is a water reclamation component — the further treatment, transmission, storage (if necessary), and reuse of water.
Phase II will likely take up to two or three additional years, putting the entire program on a 7-8-year timeline. Our program management team and grant consultant are pursuing a planning grant from State Water Resources Control Board.
After the grant is acquired, the team will begin work on a “Master Reclamation Plan.” Preliminary studies related to wastewater quality and groundwater recharge are underway.
Whether groundwater recharge, direct reuse, agricultural use, other uses or a combination of uses is ultimately selected by the City, the reclamation plan is a crucial component of the planning effort and will actually be key in determining some of the design and technology decisions for the actual construction.
The first major step in the construction process is facility master planning and that critical effort actually crossed the starting line a month ago. Black and Veatch, one of the country’s leading water and wastewater engineering firms, is working the project with an anticipated completion of the master planning process around next February.
The next major effort to cross the line will be a comprehensive environmental review, a process that will take between one and two years of study, work, coordination and approval with the many regulatory agencies involved, from the California Coastal Commission to the Regional Water Quality Control Board, to ensure the project complies with both California and federal environmental requirements.
Staff and the WRFCAC are in the process of interviewing firms that responded to our request for proposals to perform this vital work and we anticipate the Council will award that contract next month.
The City remains committed to construction of a regional facility and is hopeful the Cayucos Sanitary District may choose to rejoin the project. We believe a regional facility that serves both communities will be best for all rate-payers and best for our environment.
To that end, Black & Veatch will lay out a scalable project, one that Cayucos could easily join in the year ahead.
Public education, engagement and communication remains one of the most important, enduring goals, a fact indicated by the long time the Council spent Monday night reviewing the outlines of a public engagement plan for the project.
Having now received the Council’s guidance, staff will refine that plan and bring it to Council for approval in the weeks ahead. Public outreach will include multiple facility master plan workshops and several reclamation planning workshops. On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Council will host a project delivery seminar to educate, and seek public input, on the various design, construction, operation and financing approaches that could be considered for this huge project.
As we work on that, the public is encouraged to visit the “Hot topics” section on the main page of the City website (see: www.morro-bay.ca.us) for the latest updates, including the presentation made to Council this week. And also to engage with the staff and WRFCAC, as we prepare to bring the public education and outreach plan, and the environmental consultant contract, to the City Council for approval in September.
This is a great process and our residents are wonderfully and energetically engaged.
We all appreciate that communication and look forward to hearing your input in formal meetings, informal discussions and by email.
As per usual, you can contact me at: [email protected] or our Program Manager, Mike Nunley, at: .
David Buckingham is the city manager for Morro Bay. His “A View from Harbor Street” column is a regular feature of The Bay News.
