Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week approved a grant-funded contract of $175,000 to study a regional wastewater recycling program for Amador County that could translate into a project to be emulated around the Foothills.

The study would look for a feasible plan for a regional recycling and reuse wastewater system in Amador County. The board on Thursday authorized awarding a contract to Aegis Engineering Management to complete a regional wastewater reuse planning study. The use of recycled or reclaimed wastewater is expected to extend the county water supply by replacing raw water used by industrial and agricultural companies with reclaimed water.

Amador Water Agency General Manager Gene Mancebo said in a release Monday that “historically, industrial facilities, landscaping and vineyards in the western portion of the county use more than 700 acre-feet of raw water annually.” He said the regional plan will not address recycling wastewater for drinking water or household use.

“The contractor will hold meetings with cities, Amador County, AWA and other stakeholders,” Mancebo said, and the contactor will “identify potential reclaimed water users, create a plan to maximize the use of reclaimed water in Amador County, and create a conceptual plan for financing and building reclaimed water facilities.”

The planning process will be completed by December, 2012. The winning proposal was selected by a review panel that included Ione City Manager Kim Kerr, Sutter Creek City Manager Sean Rabe, Jackson City Manager Mike Daly, and Agency engineers Erik Christeson and John Griffin.

The cost of the $175,000 contract is fully covered by a $270,000 grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Mancebo said. “The remaining funds from the grant will be used to cover AWA staff time to gather data for the study and participate in meetings, contract contingency and other project costs.” The study and planning project was awarded for its possibility to be a regional program that could be copied elsewhere around the state, especially in the Sierra Foothills.

Also Thursday, the board recognized retiring Agency Controller Ann Barre for her 26 years of service to the Agency. Her career began in customer service and moved to bookkeeping. Besides financial management duties in her three decades at AWA, Barre opened mail, read meters, answered phones, and launched AWA’s first computer system. Barre said she was most proud that audits of her books were perfect every year, and “never off by a penny.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.