South Village Wastewater Expansion Project

Capacity Reservation Request

Project Highlights

Project Description

In 2009, the District’s Board of Directors issued concept approval for the Phase 2 Expansion of the Woods Valley Ranch Water Reclamation Facility to provide wastewater service to properties within the South Village Wastewater Service Area. Concept approval was based on the Master Plan adopted in 2008 outlining the improvements required for the service area. Funding for these efforts came from Village Redevelopment, LLC. (Bell Enterprises and Butterfield Trails, LLC – Project Proponent), the District, and various other property owners in the service area desiring wastewater service. The Master Plan identified required improvements for not only the ultimate build-out of the service, but also the initial expansion phase (referred to as the Phase 2 Expansion) needed for 350 Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) of additional capacity. Components of the Phase 2 Expansion include a design and construction of 1) a wastewater collection system, 2) additional seasonal storage, and 3) an expansion to the Woods Valley Ranch Water Reclamation Facility (WVRWRF).

The initial construction of the WVRWRF (Phase 1) was funded by Newland Communities to provide wastewater service for the Woods Valley Ranch Subdivision. Wastewater from the subdivision is conveyed through the gravity collection system to the treatment plant. At the treatment plant the wastewater is processed and discharged as recycled water to be used for irrigation on the Woods Valley Ranch Golf Course. Income from the sale of the recycled water is used to help offset the cost of operating the water reclamation facility.

SRF Application

An application for a Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Loan was submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in February 2010 for financing the Phase 2 Expansion Project. The CWSRF Loans are low interest loans, currently in the mid 2 percent range, available to public agencies to provide assistance for construction of publicly-owned wastewater treatment works and water recycling facilities, and water quality related programs. Since that time, District staff has worked with the SWRCB staff addressing their review comments and providing additional information, as required, to obtain a Project Facility Plan Approval. SWRCB’s staff completed the Facility Plan Approval process in March 2012 and the Preliminary Funding Commitment (PFC) for the CWSRF Loan was approved by the SWRCB on May 15, 2012, in the amount of $13.5M at 2.2% interest for a 20 year term. Other conditions of approval for the PFC include obtaining sufficient project participation and the successful formation of an assessment district for repayment of the loan. Now that the conditional PFC is obtained, the District will seek out firm participation commitments from property owners desiring wastewater service from the Phase 2 expansion project and the Phase 2 service area will be established. Funding provided by the project participants will be used for formation of the assessment district and preparation of construction documents. At about half way through the design phase, the property owners participating in the project will vote on the establishment of the assessment liens and formation of the assessment district. After successful formation of the assessment district, the SWRCB will provide loan documents for approval by the District’s Board of Directors. Once the loan is in place, the District will complete the design and move on to the bid, award and construction phases of the project.

Cost Considerations

Over the past several months, District staff has been working with the Project Proponent to find ways to lower the project costs.  Several suggestions were provided and many will be incorporated into the project. A Design/Build project approach will be utilized for the expansion of the Woods Valley Ranch Water Reclamation Facility and construction of the Charlan Road Seasonal Storage Pond. Project savings in the 5 to 7% range can be expected from going to this process, but the biggest advantage of the Design/Build process is the reduced potential for construction change orders available from the single point of responsibility between design and construction. Other cost savings come from the careful evaluation of the project scope to ensure that only the most cost effective and required combination of improvements are being proposed. 

While these efforts to reduce the cost of the project are important and will be incorporated into the project, increasing the project participation will have a more significant impact on the final cost per EDU. Additional facilities needed to expand the participation level from 350 to 625 EDUs combined with the aforementioned savings should cause only a minimal increase in the overall project costs. While nearly doubling the participation of the project with minimal cost increase, it is anticipated the average EDU cost can be significantly lowered from the present estimates. Staff has been in discussion with large land owners in the both the South and North Village Planning Areas, seeking to increase participation to the 625 EDU level.  While no firm commitments have been secured, participation by these properties is under serious considerations. These properties represent large multi-use developments and this expansion project provides them the most cost effective option for the wastewater capacity they will eventually need.

For questions or project status updates, please contact:

Valley Center Municipal Water District - Engineering Services

Phone: (760) 735-4503

or E-mail us at: SouthVillageProject@vcmwd.org