Water Woes Solved
Sonora, CA — Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD) broke ground on the Sawmill Flat Road Water Main Extension project today in Columbia.
Nearly six years ago the Sawmill Flat Water Users Association asked TUD to provide treated water service to their homes. That wasn’t possible because of how far away the homes were to the nearest TUD treated water main. TUD could only deliver untreated water.
President of the Sawmill Flat Water Users Association Kathie Turgeon says “We are so thankful that this project has finally taken off and I can’t wait to be able to use water straight from my tap.”
TUD General Manager Pete Kampa says “The District is thrilled to be able to have secured grant funding for this worthwhile project. These customers have had to use bottled water for drinking and now they will be able to have clean potable water available to them at all times. Also, this project is a great boost to this area. We were able to partner with local contractors to get this project completed,”
The extension is possible because of a grant from the California State Department of Public Health’s Proposition 50. Public Health Officials say the purpose of the project is to provide clean, reliable drinking water to customers that currently use TUD ditch water in their homes.
Associate Engineer associated with this project, Erik Johnson says “When we initially looked at the overall cost for this project, we could tell it would be very costly for the District to extend this water main. The District is always looking at other funding sources and submitted a grant funding application with the State noting that these customers did not have a treated water source available to them. We were very pleased to have been awarded a State grant for this project.”
Moyle Excavation, Inc. of Jamestown was awarded the bid of $200,548 to construct the project that includes extending an 8-inch and 10-inch water main along Sawmill Flat Road from Parrotts Ferry Road to Rambler Road. Condor Earth Technologies of Jamestown has been providing compaction testing services.
The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of September. The water main extension also includes installing fire hydrants along Sawmill Flat Road for improved fire protection.
Click here for a map of the area.
