CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN on the Groundwater Recharge Project at the Stockton Delta Water Treatment Plant.
San Joaquin County and Stockton officials and project executives broke ground this past Wednesday on the $17 million project site. The Groundwater Recharge Project will build three recharge basins adjacent to the treatment plant, allowing the city to capture water from the San Joaquin Delta and Mokelumne River.
It’s phase two of the plant’s expansion — the facility itself, opened in 2012, already treats up to 30 million gallons a day for nearly 200,000 customers.
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi explained how the project would become crucial during a dry season with little rain.
“This groundbreaking is very significant because it has to do with groundwater recharge,” Fugazi said. “When we’re experiencing a drought, we’re limited in where we can pull our water from. When our groundwater has been recharged, we’re able to pull from there.”
The water that is collected in the basins will seep through multiple ground layers into the aquifer below, ready to be pumped out in dry years, according to the city news release.
Filtered through the sand
Municipal utilities department director Mel Lytle explained the mechanics after the ceremony.
“Each of the three ponds will have pipes that bring the water (from the San Joaquin Delta and Mokelumne River) and discharge it,” Lytle said. “The water will sink down through the sand and be stored in the groundwater basin.”
State Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy) expressed that planning ahead of time would help sustain the farmers who depend on the water.
“I think that it is very important to lead and get ahead of our water shortage issues,” Ransom said. “So this means that we are more prepared as droughts will come. That means we are better able to protect our farmers, our agricultural community, and better able to serve our families.”
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.