RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Proposals to prepare two new water plans were the primary topic when the Rancho Murieta Community Services District (CSD) improvements committee met on March 11.

Two engineers from Water System Consulting presented their preliminary scopes for developing an Urban Water Supply Plan for the district and a Vision Plan to supplement the draft Integrated Water Master Plan. The committee also questioned them about groundwater.

In other business, longtime community activist Janis Eckard apologized to the consultants who prepared the draft Integrated Water Master Plan. The district’s contract engineer, Joe Domenichelli, also outlined his recommendations for constructing a new water tank and optimizing the use of existing tanks. (See the two separate stories on these topics in this issue.)

The CSD improvements committee consists of two board members – Directors Randy Jenco and John Merchant, Operations Manager Eric Houston, General Manager Mimi Morris, who was on leave, and other staff. The committee examines infrastructure issues in depth and makes recommendations to the full board.

Although Houston had invited the new water consultants to the committee meeting, he was unable to attend due to jury duty. Plant Supervisor Travis Bohannon stepped in as the interim director of operations.

Although the Maddaus and Adkins consulting firms presented the draft Integrated Water Master Plan to the district in October, the board took no significant action aside from directing Houston to find consultants for an external review of the study.

A turning point occurred at the Jan. 15 Board meeting when Operations Manager Houston recommended against finalizing the Integrated Water Master Plan, citing its lack of a clear path forward. He proposed that the district develop an Urban Water Supply Plan, which the state will require once the district reaches 3,000 water connections and becomes subject to new regulatory requirements as an urban water supplier. The district currently has 2,917 connections.

Houston also told the board that he had asked Water Systems Consultants —who recently developed an Urban Water Supply Plan and Water Vision Report for the City of Folsom—to provide a scope of work for similar plans for the district. Board President Steve Booth referred Houston’s proposal to the improvements committee for review.

Stephanie Ard began by introducing herself and Jeff Lawrence. She has spent the past 12 years specializing in water systems planning and modeling, including the last two years with Water Systems Consultants. Ard noted that Lawrence brings extensive experience in the planning and design of local water and sewer systems. WSC is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, with an additional office in Folsom. The firm employs over 70 engineers specializing in water, sewer, and recycled water, with a heavy emphasis on planning.

Lawrence said that Water Systems Consultants became involved after Houston inquired if they could conduct an external review of the draft Integrated Water Management Plan. Following that, Houston asked WSC to provide a preliminary scope of work for an Urban Water Master Plan and for “anything that could be added to the master plan.”

Lawrence further explained that an urban plan is primarily a regulatory compliance document, while a master plan serves as a comprehensive water planning document. Ard agreed, noting that the urban assesses existing and projected water demands alongside available supply. It also evaluates supply availability during a normal year, a single drought year, and consecutive drought years. She added that the plan would serve as a report to the state, demonstrating that the district has considered drought scenarios, assessed the reliability of its water supply, and outlined plans for future growth. 

“What this does not do is provide a detailed analysis of the water supply alternatives that are available…or an analysis of the reliability of the system as a whole,” she said. “It does not look at storage, it does not look at pumps. These are all included in a master planning documents.”

Lawrence noted that any analysis of the water supply is typically completed prior to developing the urban plan to ensure it is incorporated. While the state requires a small water supplier to prepare the urban plan within a year of reaching 3,000 connections, it doesn’t exact penalties for missing the deadline. However, the supplier is ineligible for state funding until the plan is submitted. 

“It’s just assurance to the state that you have planned to have sufficient water supplies to meet your future demands under a drought scenario,” he said.

Ard explained that their next preliminary scope involved developing a water supply assessment plan, similar to the Water Vision Plan she is preparing for the City of Folsom. The first major task would be creating a strategic communication plan focused on gathering input from the community. This would include stakeholder workshops, public surveys, and newsletters.

Ard emphasized that community feedback would shape their final recommendations to ensure the plan “reflects what the community values and what the next steps are.”

Ard said the next step would involve analyzing the water supply, starting with the draft Integrated Water Management Plan. “We would like to do a deeper dive into those assumptions, making sure that is how your system operates and refining that storage analysis,” she said.

The final document would include recommendations on available water supply alternatives, along with a detailed analysis and evaluation of each option to determine which would provide the greatest benefit based on demand and the reliability of the Cosumnes River. Water Systems Consultants would then develop an adaptive roadmap “that would help you know when you need to implement supply alternatives,” Ard said.

Jenco asked how the report would deal with groundwater. Lawrence said that an initial analysis of the aquifer and its capabilities would have to be completed upfront if they were going to recommend groundwater as a feasible option. 

He noted that Water Systems Consultants has a hydro-geologic group that could weigh in as part of the assessment.

When Jenco asked about the cost, Ard responded that they preferred not to provide an estimate until they had a clear understanding of the district's needs and could develop a final scope.

 However, when the River Valley Times pressed for a ballpark figure, Lawrence estimated that the water supply plan would likely cost more than $100,000. The River Valley Times also asked if it would duplicate the Integrated Water Management Plan. 

Lawrence acknowledged that the Integrated Water Management Plan consultants had done a competent job, which WSC did not intend to duplicate. 

“We could build on some of the water supply planning that is in there,” he said. “This is just a little different process, looking at a little bit more options, getting everything out on the table, being a little more transparent, getting public involvement, maybe reaching different conclusions. It may or may not.

“Our idea was to try to provide additional value and not repeat what you have already paid someone else to do,” he added.

Audience member Janis Eckard, a longtime community activist, suggested that the district “clean up the data” in the draft Integrated Water Management Plan before the consultants build on it.

At the end of the presentation, Merchant stated that the next step should be providing the consultants with more information to help refine their scope and develop a cost estimate.

Lawrence added that they would also incorporate insights from the meeting to further refine their scope, which they would review with Houston and the committee to ensure alignment. “Then we will put a price on it,” he said.

An extensive discussion about groundwater options took place during the meeting, with Merchant and others questioning the consultants about their experience with drilling wells and groundwater banking in other areas. 

The consultants provided informative responses that could be summarized as “It depends.” 

An audio recording of the March 11 Improvements Committee meeting, capturing the full discussion, is available on the district’s website, along with the meeting packet that includes the preliminary scopes presented by the two new consultants.