$9.5 million grant to update Santa Rosa's water system
Related Story
Santa Rosa's aging water system is getting ready to get an upgrade.
The city recently got a $9.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior to help offset costs.
One of the things the federal funding will help pay for is the replacement of a water storage tank that is about 45 years old.
“Obviously, it's not an immediate risk, but we eventually have to replace this equipment or this infrastructure,” Santa Rosa City Manager Jared Hockema said.
Santa Rosa water customers get their drinking water from an irrigation ditch. The water is then taken over to a water treatment plant, where it's stored in one of their tanks.
With this multimillion dollar grant, the city is looking to replace aging infrastructure and also tap into nearby water utility providers so that the city here is not relying solely on water from the Río Grande.
“Without this funding, what would have happened is we would've had to go to the rate payers and the taxpayers in Santa Rosa and burden them with that,” Hockema said.
The grant, funded by the Build Back Better Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, will also help pay for a reservoir to be built behind the water plant in order to hold raw untreated water.
Officials say they're also exploring the use of wells for more water sources.
Construction is expected to begin in spring 2025.
Watch the video above for the full story.
News
