Project Spotlight - Santiago Island Village
Diablo Water District and Contra Costa Water District are working with Santiago Island Village Mobile Home Park, a community water system on Bethel Island, to consolidate with the water system and replace its groundwater well with access to regional surface water supply. The existing groundwater well system lacks redundancy, storage, and sufficient flow for fire protection, and exceeds secondary drinking water standards for manganese. Santiago Island Village has been coordinating with Diablo Water District and Contra Costa Water District on a supply solution to resolve these issues.
Recently, Diablo Water District introduced treated water to the island that is available to water systems through an annexation and inclusion process. The treated water supply, which is surface water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta through the Central Valley Project, is a low-cost, efficient, and reliable alternative to groundwater for Bethel Island residents. In order for Santiago Island Village to receive surface water supply, both Diablo Water District and Contra Costa Water District need to modify their boundaries through the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to annex Santiago Island Village into their service areas (“annexation”) and approval needs to be received from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to include the water system in the Central Valley Project’s service area (“inclusion”). The annexation and inclusion reviews also require compliance with various regulations, including CEQA, NEPA, National Historic Resources Protection Act (Section 106), and the Endangered Species Act.
The project will result in the consolidation of Santiago Island Village into Diablo Water District and Contra Costa Water District service areas and installation of a new water service pipeline and related appurtenances along Gateway Road. Upon completion, Santiago Island Village’s new water service provider will be Diablo Water District and they will permanently receive high-quality, reliable water.
Project Location
The project is located on Bethel Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. All of Bethel Island is considered a severely disadvantaged community based on 2016 Census income data and DWR’s criteria for disadvantaged community.
The project is located on Bethel Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Funding
Funding for this project was acquired through the Department of Water Resources Proposition 1 IRWM Disadvantaged Community Involvement Program and through a State Water Resources Control Board Proposition 1/State Revolving Funding Construction Grant.
This project is sponsored in part by these organizations.
Benefits
The project provides several critical benefits to SIV:
Access to clean, reliable drinking water that is not subject to groundwater quality and quantity issues.
Provides sufficient supply and pressure for fire protection.
Resolves need to construct onsite wellhead treatment, new drinking water well, and/or water storage tank.
Long-term savings on operation and maintenance of water system.
The project will result in a clean, reliable water supply.
Project Schedule
Status / Description
Completed / Annexation of SIV into Diablo Water District and Contra Contra Costa Water District service areas
Completed / CEQA Notice of Exemption
Completed / National Historic Resources Protection Act (Section 106) and Endangered Species Act reviews
Completed / Inclusion of SIV into U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Central Valley Project water supply service area
Completed / Project design tasks
April & May 2021 / Construction of water supply line to SIV
Funding
The public portion of this project was funded by several State agency programs, summarized below. The Santiago Island Village Community also incurred expenses to modify their water system to connect to the new water meter supplied by Diablo Water District.
BUDGET / DESCRIPTION
Unspecified / State Water Resources Control Board Technical Assistance Program (in collaboration with Rural Community Assistance Corporation)
$171,075 / State Water Resources Control Board Construction Grant Program
$147,983 / Department of Water Resources Prop 1 IRWM Disadvantaged Community Involvement Grant Program