BACKGROUND
PCWA has been seeking funding partnerships in the proposed Ophir Water Treatment Plant (Ophir WTP) for several years. The intent of these partnerships is to both distribute the cost of this large infrastructure program according to benefits and minimize the debt liability and burden to PCWA's customers. As benefitting financial partners in the Ophir Project have not materialized to date, Roseville and PCWA staff began exploring the concept of partnering, wherein Roseville and PCWA share existing infrastructure and treated water capacity for some period of time, prior to constructing Ophir WTP, which has benefits to both agencies. This partnership may address some, or part of Roseville’s primary interest in the Ophir Project which is redundancy and reliability.
PCWA, as well as other potential funding partners, have the fundamental objective of maximizing use of existing treated water capacity to defer construction of Ophir WTP as long as prudently possible. This objective is to minimize the amount of capital to be financed when ultimately constructing the project.
Available treated water capacity has recently been improved by reduced demand habits within PCWA’s service territory persisting since the last drought and by small improvement projects constructed at Foothill WTP. It is currently estimated that PCWA will need Ophir WTP online in the early 2030s, assuming a rate of absorption of 700 units of capacity per year. This time could be much farther out if weaker economic conditions prevail.
Delaying construction of Ophir WTP benefits project financing; however, doing so delays the provision of a surface water supply alternative to Folsom Reservoir for the City of Roseville. A concept that has been discussed between Roseville Environmental Utilities staff and PCWA staff includes more near-term sharing of existing treated water capacity at Roseville's Barton Road WTP during normal conditions and PCWA's Foothill WTP in the event Folsom Reservoir level is too low to serve the intake serving the Barton Road WTP. The benefit to PCWA is that Roseville could use Barton Road WTP to serve PCWA customers in western Placer County, under an existing wheeling agreement, which can further delay the need for Ophir WTP. In exchange, PCWA could use its conserved water during times of extreme drought, when Folsom Reservoir level is not adequate, to provide surface water supplies to the City of Roseville, under an existing “take or pay” water service contract between the City of Roseville and PCWA.
The attached MOU will allow for an initial exploration and planning effort to commence which will include analyzing the feasibility of sharing in water conveyance capacity in the manner described. This would include both a supply and demand analysis as well developing needed infrastructure alternatives. The proposed concept is not intended to alter water rights or put undue conservation on either party, rather, only to share in capacity that may already exist at times when it is not being used. The proposed not-to-exceed total for any outside services is $100,000, to be split equally for $50,000 each between the City of Roseville and PCWA. Any projects or operational agreements resulting from this exploration would require subsequent agreement of both the Roseville City Council and the PCWA Board of Directors.