Farmers now seek recycled water from sewer plant
A year ago, many farmers shunned the idea of using recycled
water from the city’s new sewer plant. Now with the federal supply
cut off and local growers mostly limited to using their wells, a
new demand has grown for the city’s refurbished wastewater, which
an engineering official said can be used for
”
basically any crop.
”
Farmers now seek recycled water from sewer plant
A year ago, many farmers shunned the idea of using recycled water from the city’s new sewer plant. Now with the federal supply cut off and local growers mostly limited to using their wells, a new demand has grown for the city’s refurbished wastewater, which an engineering official said can be used for “basically any crop.”
Hollister completed its state-of-the-art wastewater plant last year and as part of the long-term outlook, officials had planned to market the recycled water – or “reclaimed” as its called – to farmers for agricultural uses. In the meantime, the city has been progressing on two launch-pad projects for the recycled supply – a pipeline for irrigation to the new Brigantino/Riverside Park on the city’s west side and another pipe being built the airport to water a large patch of open grassland.
Officials had been hoping to use the two projects as examples to garner wider demand. With high interest from the agricultural community in the past month, though, they have switched gears and moved up the expected time frame for allocating the water to farmers from around 2013 to sometime this year, maybe as early as July.
Many farmers are looking for alternative water sources to their groundwater supplies because the federal government this year shut off its allocation, which usually makes up 30 percent to 40 percent of water used on agriculture in San Benito County. Drought conditions over the past three years have been compounded by major diversions prompted by concerns for the threatened Delta smelt fish and other troubled species – causing the zero allocation.
In recent weeks, city engineering officials have been in talks with the San Benito County Water District on details in forming a potential pilot program this year.
“The story has changed from a year ago,” said city engineering official Steve Wittry, “when it was, ‘We don’t want the water.’
“Now it’s, ‘We do want the water.’ It’s pretty good. We’re having a lot of change of heart.”
Wittry while touting the quality of the reclaimed water since the plant’s construction often has noted how the recycled wastewater can be used for “basically any crop.” It is described as “tertiary” – or wastewater treated to a federal standard for landscape uses.
“It can’t be used for drinking – that’s about it,” he said.
Three roadblocks in the way before Hollister can start allocating water to farmers include installing the necessary infrastructure, pinpointing the correct environmental permitting for the changes and finding the appropriate cost structure so it’s beneficial to both the users and city.
Wittry pointed out that the nearly completed pipe connecting to the airport could be fitted to serve potential users to the north. It should be ready for irrigation and “grass growing” at the airport by May, said Mike Chambless, the airport manager and city code enforcement officer. He noted how the grassy plot in the property’s northwest quadrant will help cut down on dust and maintenance to that area.
Recycled water irrigation at the other site, the new park off San Juan-Hollister Road, should be ready to go even earlier, probably in April, Wittry said.
This week, construction crews were installing compost piles that were to be mixed into the soil before it is watered, while a geologist was on scene monitoring wells to examine how the recycled water will interact with the groundwater in the area.
As those two projects come to a completion in the coming months, Wittry and other officials are set to be well into their planning for wider agricultural uses – about four years ahead of schedule.
Wittry hasn’t ruled out reaching the July goal set by farmers asking for the water, despite a need to solidify an appropriate cost structure based on uses the city has never employed, and the likely price tag for infrastructure it hasn’t built.
“That’s one of the biggest challenges,” Wittry said.
