Assembly OKs bill on sale of Sacramento's treated wastewater
Published: Thursday, May. 26, 2011 - 5:47 pm
The California Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that would help the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District sell its treated wastewater as a new supply of drinking or irrigation water.
The bill, AB 134, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, could eventually help the district offset the cost of complying with a strict new state permit that requires advanced treatment of the Sacramento metro area's sewage effluent.
That effluent, which is discharged into the Sacramento River near Freeport, is suspected of harming the aquatic food chain in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The district estimates that complying with the permit, imposed in December, could cost as much as $2 billion, possibly requiring sewage bills to triple for about 500,000 ratepayers in the region. Selling an estimated 180,000 acre-feet of treated wastewater annually could cover one-fourth of that cost.
Current law allows sewage treatment agencies to sell their wastewater. Dickinson's bill, however, would allow the district to secure water rights equivalent to its effluent volume, substantially increasing its value. If the bill becomes law, any proposed water right would still be subject to approval by the State Water Resources Control Board.
The bill passed 42-23 on a bipartisan vote, barely achieving the minimum votes required for passage. Substantial opposition came from agencies that buy water from the Delta, which argued that the district seeks a right to water that has historically been available for diversion as free outflow.
The bill now moves to the state Senate for review.
The bill, AB 134, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, could eventually help the district offset the cost of complying with a strict new state permit that requires advanced treatment of the Sacramento metro area's sewage effluent.
That effluent, which is discharged into the Sacramento River near Freeport, is suspected of harming the aquatic food chain in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The district estimates that complying with the permit, imposed in December, could cost as much as $2 billion, possibly requiring sewage bills to triple for about 500,000 ratepayers in the region. Selling an estimated 180,000 acre-feet of treated wastewater annually could cover one-fourth of that cost.
Current law allows sewage treatment agencies to sell their wastewater. Dickinson's bill, however, would allow the district to secure water rights equivalent to its effluent volume, substantially increasing its value. If the bill becomes law, any proposed water right would still be subject to approval by the State Water Resources Control Board.
The bill passed 42-23 on a bipartisan vote, barely achieving the minimum votes required for passage. Substantial opposition came from agencies that buy water from the Delta, which argued that the district seeks a right to water that has historically been available for diversion as free outflow.
The bill now moves to the state Senate for review.
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