In 2014, a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) was prepared by MC Engineering, Inc. in accordance with the guidelines provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Agency (RDA) to meet Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1780 as part of the funding application for proposed projects. The USDA guidelines require the analysis and identification of project related factors that include, but are not limited to the following: environmental impact(s), project sustainability, technical feasibility, water and energy efficiency, economic feasibility, life-cycle analysis, and the awareness and support of the general public.
As a part of the USDA PER, dated July 2014, MC Engineering evaluated existing conditions of the District’s wastewater facilities including wastewater treatment and disposal, sludge drying and disposal, lift stations, collection system, and operational management.
As a result of collected information and analysis within the completed USDA PER by M.C. Engineering, Inc. the California RWQCB issued Cleanup and Abatement Order (CAO) No. R5-2014-0707. The District has recently taken necessary corrective actions to fund related improvements through acquisition of a loan from the USDA Rural Development and is currently in the process of identifying bridge/loan funding for design. The USDA funding program will specifically address specific system deficiencies located at the WWTP along with various lift stations improvements not addressed with the report.