As it prepares to begin construction of a permanent water supply to LARC Ranch and the Lily of the Valley Mobile Village, the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency announced it had secured $3.93 million in grant funding for the project.
The permanent water supply via a pipeline that would connect to the public water system is set to provide water to the Bouquet Canyon residents after water stopped being regularly released from the Bouquet Reservoir nearly a decade ago, leaving them unable to operate their wells.
Since then, Kathleen Sturkey, executive director of LARC Ranch, said the nonprofit that provides programs, services and residential facilities for developmentally disabled adults has been forced to truck in the 11,000 gallons of water needed to support the 65-acre ranch and its residents every month, at a cost of thousands of dollars per month.
Now after a more than five-year grant application process, SCV Water secured grant funding from the State Water Resources Control Board to construct the pipeline, with a $3.57 million grant provided by the SWRCB Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, along with nearly $360,000 in reimbursements for costs already incurred for the planning and design of the project.
“We’re happy to be able to construct a permanent water supply for LARC and Lily of the Valley,” Brent Payne, SCV Water principal engineer, said in a prepared statement. “By participating in the State Water Resources Control Board’s master meter consolidation, SCV Water is able to provide a safe and reliable water supply to our local disadvantaged communities.”
The SWRCB also provided $1.1 million in incentive funding, along with up to $10 million in 0% interest rate financing, set to be used for future per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) treatment facilities and projects, according to SCV Water.
The funding is set to allow for the construction of the pipeline to extend 1.75 miles along Bouquet Canyon Road to LARC and from Shadow Valley Lane to the LARC turnout road, connecting LARC and Lily of the Valley to the public water system with master meters, which monitor water usage.
“It has taken some time, but we’re very excited about it,” Sturkey said in a previous Signal interview. “We’re very fortunate that they were kind enough to take that on. It’s good for our future and good for other future projects.”
While only an 8-inch pipe is needed to serve LARC and Lily of the Valley, SCV Water is set to upsize the pipe to 12 inches to allow other developed areas, including ranches, residential and businesses, located along the pipeline to connect to it, with an additional $800,000 in capital improvement program funds.
Anyone wanting to connect would be required to pay for the physical connection and the appropriate connection fees, according to SCV Water officials.
“To maximize the benefit of this new pipeline along Bouquet Canyon, we decided to upsize it so that in the future, other existing developments could connect to the public water system,” Payne added in the statement. “In addition to serving LARC and LOV, we are hoping to increase drought resiliency and reliability in this part of our service area for existing developments.”
Water service agreements are scheduled to start in spring 2022, with the pipeline expected to be operational by summer 2023.
