Juniper Riviera County Water District Improvement Project

The Juniper-Riviera County Water District Improvement Project (Project) consists of improvements for the current JRCWD water system including water quality, distribution system, and minor infrastructure definitions for water sources and storage. The Project also proposes the installation of a new well, two new storage tanks, distribution and transmission pipelines, and isolation valves and the rehabilitation of existing wells and storage tanks. The Project is proposed by JRCWD and benefits the residents served by the JRCWD. JRCWD anticipates receiving funding assistance to implement the Project from the Division of Financial Assistance (DFA) of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and/or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. To address the regular exceedances for water quality, deficiencies in the systems infrastructure, and operation and maintenance deficiencies for JRCWD system, several components are presented in the Draft Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) to be implemented.1 The Project includes the following components: New Well JRCWD does not meet the MDD with its highest source offline per CCR, Title 22, Section 64554(c), has violations for utilizing the standby well (Well No. 3), has water quality risks for Well Nos. 2 and 3 related to fluoride, and has water quality risks for Well No. 3 related to arsenic. This Project component will include a new well (Well No. 4) to improve water supply, water quality, and redundancy. Before drilling Well No. 4, a test well will be drilled to investigate the water quality on the western portion of APN 0435-421-03 owned by JRCWD. A buffer zone of 150-feet from the nearest residential property is proposed to avoid the septic system. Well No. 4 is proposed to provide water supply with the highest source offline and water quality without exceedances to the JRCWD. Well No. 4 will be connected to the existing JRCWD system through a new transmission pipeline. The pipeline will be an 8-inch polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipeline with an approximate length of 2,500 feet. Conduit will be installed parallel to this pipeline. This pipeline will be built along Rancho Street, Corto Road, and Laramie Street before connecting to either the existing system pipeline or the proposed blending pipeline near Well No. 1 at Horizon Street. An access road would also be constructed running southeast from Pinon Road or Corto Road to Well No. 4 site. The construction of the new transmission pipeline will require an encroachment permit from the County. The appurtenances for the proposed Well No. 4 will include a flowmeter to measure well production, a level sensor to measure water levels, valves, piping, and a pump to waste feature. The flowmeter and level sensor will provide information to the JRCWD’s existing SCADA system. Improve Well No. 1 Well No. 1 has minor deficiencies. This project component proposes the modification of the pedestal and casing vent. Well No. 1 is located on APN 0435-391-04 and is on an easement for ingress and egress, access to the water pipelines, and access to Well No.1 (County Recorder Doc. 529). The JRCWD may need to obtain a construction easement for staging and equipment parking for approximately 58,000 square feet to the north of Well No. 1 on APN 0435-391-04. Improvements for deficiencies include raising pedestal height and down turning the vent and screen mesh. Well No. 1’s pedestal height is less than 24-inches above ground surface and will be raised to 24-inches above grade. The casing vent and screen mesh will be completely downturned. Improve Well No. 2 Well No. 2 has historic fluoride levels near and over the MCL for fluoride (2.0 mg/L). Pump efficiency for the well has dropped twenty percent from 1980 to 2019. The well is located on a JRCWD-owned parcel (APN 0435-283-09). The JRCWD may need to obtain a temporary construction easement for staging and equipment staging for approximately 3,000 to 5,000 square feet to the east of Well No. 2 on APN 0435-282-09. The well was inspected in April 2022 and the inspection identified exceedances of fluoride, a rusted well casing, and mineralization on the screen perforations. This Project component proposes improvements to the pedestal height, casing vent, and flowmeters. Well No. 2’s pedestal height is less than 24-inches above ground surface and will be raised to 24-inches above grade. The casing vent and screen mesh will be completely downturned. A new magnetic flowmeter will connect Well No. 2 to the JRCWD’s SCADA system. The new magnetic flowmeter will remotely provide data to JRCWD to improve operation and monitoring efforts. New Storage Tanks The JRCWD does not meet the MDD for storage per CCR, Title 22, Section 64554(c), or the fire flow storage requirements per the 2022 California Fire Code. JRCWD requires at least approximately 9,071 gallons of additional storage to meet MDD requirements. In order to meet both MDD and fire flow requirements, a total of 129,071 gallons of storage is needed. This project component proposes two new bolted steel storage tanks (Tank Nos. 4 and 5) adjacent to the already existing tanks (Tanks No. 2 and 3). This will increase the storage volume from approximately 175,000 gallons to approximately 300,000 gallons, addressing storage volume deficiencies. This component ensures that JRCWD will meet the storage volume requirements for fire flow and MDD. Construction activities related to Storage Tank No. 4 will be confined to JRCWD owned parcel on APN 0432-022-01 and is adjacent to existing Tank No. 2. Storage Tank No. 5 is proposed on a parcel owned by BLM and is adjacent to existing Tank No. 3. The JRCWD has an established 30-year ROW grant (CACA- 4227) for Tank No. 3 and is to expire in 2039. Form SF299 was submitted to BLM in December 2022 to amend the existing 30-year ROW Grant to include proposed Tank No. 5. Utilizing the freeboard calculations in American Water Works Association D103, seismic design parameters would require approximately 5.0 feet of freeboard is proposed for the storage tanks. This level of freeboard is required to protect the structural integrity of the tank’s roof structure during a seismic event. To provide the necessary storage volume and freeboard, proposed Tank No. 4 would have a similar design to Tank No. 2 (50,000-gallon bolted steel) with an approximate diameter of 23.6 feet with a sidewall height of approximately 16.1 feet above the reinforced concrete foundation. The top of the tanks’ pitched roofs will be a few feet taller in the center. Similarly, proposed Tank No. 5 would have a similar design to Tank No. 3 (75,000-gallon bolted steel) with an approximate diameter of 23.6 feet with a sidewall heigh of approximately 24.15 feet. Each tank would be placed on and supported by a reinforced concrete ring wall foundation. Proposed Tank No. 4 would have a storage capacity of approximately 50,000 gallons and proposed Tank No. 5 would have a storage capacity of approximately 75,000 gallons. At least one storage tank will remain in service during construction of the new storage tanks and booster station. At the sidewall of the Storage Tank No. 4, a new yagi antenna pole will be mounted for wireless communication between the Storage Tank No. 4 and the existing Storage Tank No. 2. Storage Tank No. 3 will be located in an on-site location that differs from the existing tanks’ location. This will allow existing tank(s) to continue in service during operation and allows the new tanks to be at a greater distance from the slope on the northeast side of the site. The tanks will be coated with a thermoset power coating. The exterior color will be a low gloss, tan or other color to match the surrounding landscape, with permission from the BLM for proposed Tank No. 5. Grading, including over excavation and recompaction, will occur on the existing, semi-terraced site. Chain link fences exist around Tank Nos. 2 and 3 and will be expanded to include and protect proposed Tank Nos. 4 and 5 and other facilities against vandalism and theft. Tanks Nos. 4 and 5 also need to be connected to the booster pumps and Tanks Nos. 1 and 2. JRCWD will undertake a professional geotechnical investigation prior to construction to confirm over excavation, recompaction, and other soil improvements at the tank sites. Over excavation at the tank sites are initially anticipated to be approximately five feet below the existing surface. Rehabilitate Tanks Nos. 1, 2, and 3 Storage Tank Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are experiencing moderate amounts of corrosion on the tanks’ exteriors and interiors and do not have deficiencies with the overflow drain airgaps, vent screens, and weather strip gasket. This project component proposes the rehabilitation of Tanks Nos. 1, 2, and 3 with installing new National Sanitation Foundation approved epoxy coatings on the interior of the storage tanks for corrosion protection, correction of diameters of the overflow drain airgaps (two pipe diameters), utilizing bigger mushroom caps to protect vent screens, and installing new weather strip gaskets to provide watertight seals. Tank No. 1 and Tank No. 2 are located on JRCWD owned property on APNs 0435-263-47 and 0432-022-01. Tank No. 3 is located on ROW Grant (CACA-4227) on land owned by BLM. Blending Transmission Pipeline with Well Nos. 1, 2, and 4 and Storage Tank No. 1 If the pilot test hole for proposed Well No. 4 is found to have water quality contaminant exceedances or inadequate production capacity, a blending transmission line between Well Nos. 1, 2, and 4 may need to be implemented to blend JRCWD’s water within its tanks and improve water quality in the system. Since Well No. 4 is expected to have favorable water quality similar to Well No. 1, this project component would be implemented if water quality or production capacity of Well No. 4 is less favorable than anticipated. The transmission pipeline would be installed in SBC ROW from the intersection of Corto Road and Horizon Street to the intersection of Valley View Road and Milpas Road (Figure 3). The length of the pipeline would be approximately 14,700 feet, with an 8-inch PVC pipe. This is an unpaved road, which crosses several desert washes. At these washes, the pipeline installation may be deeper (approximately 6-feet to 8-feet below the surface) and encased on concrete. Installation is proposed via cut and cover methods. Construction at these washes would be expedited and limited to dry periods. New Transmission Pipeline This Project component would involve construction of a dedicated transmission pipeline from the proposed Well No. 4 to the existing water pipeline near Well No. 1. The transmission pipeline from Well No. 4 to Well No. 1 will be located within SBC ROW and within private easements. The pipeline would connect to the Blending Transmission Pipeline described above. The length of the pipeline between Well Nos. 1 and 4 would be approximately 2,500 feet, with a diameter of approximately 6 inches. The transmission pipeline will have isolation valves, blowoff valves, and air-release/vacuum valves along its alignment. The transmission pipeline will not be connected to existing or proposed fire hydrants or water services. The installation of the transmission line and road resurfacing of SBC ROW would follow SBC standards. JRCWD, or its contractor, will obtain an encroachment permit from the County prior to initiating construction. Installation of Isolation Valves and Customer Meter Replacements The JRCWD does not have any isolation valves on Milpas Drive. Localized shutdowns to repair or replace pipelines are not possible due to low numbers of isolation valves. Extensive system shutdowns would be required to repair or replace pipelines without an increase in the number of isolation valves along existing pipelines. Additionally, JRCWD has manually read meters at each service connection. These meters are deteriorating, hard to access in many locations, over ten years old. A quarter of these meters have been replaced. This Project component proposes the installation of isolation valves and replacement of the manual meters. Isolation valves are located on SBC ROW but will require an encroachment permit from the County. The new automatic meters will be installed at service connections and JRCWD will require notification to customers. A total of forty-six new gate valves will be installed at existing tees and crosses along the north-side pipelines on Milpas Drive, Loma Vista Road, and Corto Road. The new gates valves on Milpas Drive include one 4-inch gate valve, twenty-eight 6-inch gate valves, and three 8-inch gates valves. Loma Vista Road will include five 6-inch gate valves. Lastly, Corto Road will include nine 6-inch gate valves. Valves are to be installed at existing tees and crosses in the configuration specified by the modified City of Victorville Standard Drawing W-20, except with gate valves instead of butterfly valves. JRCWD reported 280 service connections within its service area in November 2021. Meters that have not been replaced in the past few years would be replaced by manual meter replacements. Distribution Mainline Extension The southern portion of the JRCWD distribution system includes several dead ends. This Project component proposes to construct up to three pipelines that would connect to the existing system. These proposed mainline extensions are located within private roads and would require easement acquisitions. The pipelines would generally have 6-inch or 8-inch diameters and be equipped with isolation valves, blow off and air-release valves, and hydrants. The pipelines will provide a redundant route for conveyance of water from Tank No. 3 to the upper pressure zones. Currently, single pipeline segments provide water to the upper pressure zones, which presents risks to extended and significant water service interruptions. The proposed pipelines will be located in a rural residential neighborhood. Most parcels in this area are not connected to JRCWD’s distribution system but are located within JRCWD’s service area. Service may be provided to these parcels following the mainline pipeline construction. Installation of Back Up Generators JRCWD does not have any emergency backup generators and is at risk of losing supply during extended electrical outages and emergencies. This Project component proposes four backup generators be installed in the JRCWD system. One stationary generator will be placed at the Booster Pump Station No. 1 site near to Tank No. 1 and another stationary generator will be placed at the Booster Pump Station No. 2 site near Tank No. 2. Two portable generators will be used between the Well Nos. 1, 2, and 4 sites. When not in use, the portable generators will be stored at the JRCWD office and Well No. 1 site and can be relocated as needed. Switchgear will be placed at the well sites and booster station sites.