LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Board of Supervisors granted approval, along with $250,000, for the Cobb Area Water District and Special Districts to perform a feasibility study on consolidating their water systems.
At the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger and CWAD General Manager Robert Stark stated their case to the council, stressing the need — and opportunity — for a merged water district in the Cobb Mountain area.
“In our continuing efforts to help make Cobb Mountain community better than before the fire, we believe this is the right time to evaluate the potential consolidation of at least eight systems into one system,” Dellinger told the BOS.
In the initial proposal, three areas from Special Districts — Starview, Mt. Hannah, and Bonanza Springs — will join five others under control of CAWD, with the latter agency managing the new group.
The study, Dellinger said, would research the infrastructure necessary to make the consolidation possible. That includes piping, tanks, valves and hydrants.
CAWD will also oversee the feasibility study, for which Stark and Dellinger requested $250,000 from the Lake County’s AB-1905 funds, which are awarded by the state due to region’s geothermal properties.
Although the county is tightening its wallet, Dellinger said the costs for the study and the possible project are eligible for reimbursement.
“There’s a very strong push at the state level right now to promote consolidation,” he said. “They are providing funds for doing this.”
Both men and Jan Coppinger met with representatives from the State Water Board’s drinking water division on Nov. 12 and discussed the idea. According to Dellinger, the state implied its seriousness in the meeting, giving him further confidence that the state would shoulder the cost.
Overall, the board supported the idea, but they did have concerns. District 4 Supervisor and BOS Chair Anthony Farrington asked if the rate payers will have additional costs added to their bills. Dellinger countered and said that there are funds for consolidation because of a law passed by the state and Proposition 1.
If the money isn’t received by the state, Stark told the BOS that his agency does not have the funding for it. Furthermore, if consolidation moves forward, some money matching of the counties funds may take place.
“The proposal here is to reimburse that money,” Dellinger said.
