A monumental project to bring treated water from the Tuolumne River to Ceres taps will be realized next month and the difference in taste, smell and color may be noticeable.

Starting in November, gradually water coming from taps in Ceres and Turlock will be blended with ground and water pumped and filtered from the Tuolumne River.

“Through the public outreach we are letting residents know that it’s going to smell different, it’s going to look different and it’s going to taste a little different,” said Royal. “This will be blended with our well distribution system.”

The water will also be softer since it has less hard minerals.

“Generally, surface water is an improvement over ground water,” said Robert Granberg, the former general manager of and now consultant to the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority (SRWA).

A ribbon cutting is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the plant site.

The completion of the surface water project northeast of Hughson will a dependable and clean source of water into the future, he said. 

The new plant was deemed a necessity for the cities of Ceres and Turlock given growing concerns about groundwater meeting regulatory requirements; and concerns that underground aquifers will continue to be over-drafted as Valley population grows.

Both cities formed a joint powers authority with Turlock Irrigation District in 2011 to build and operate the plant near Fox Grove. Modesto was originally part of the JPA but dropped out after deciding to expand its existing surface water treatment plant at the Modesto Reservoir. 

Granberg noted that besides delivering good and clean water from the river, the plant offers some environmental benefits. The added flow released by the dam for the water plant will make for colder water temperatures which in turn help fish habitat along the 26-mile stretch from Don Pedro to Hughson. Using less groundwater will mean faster recharge of aquifers beneath Ceres and Turlock.

An additional benefit, he explained, is that having a second water source will allow cities to shut down and repair wells as needs arise. Maintaining groundwater as a source will provide an important backup if TID or the state dictates water curtailment during spells of drought.

Granberg said the state of California is overseeing the process of introducing surface water into a groundwater system, which he said has to be done slowly and carefully “because there’s a change in the chemistry of the water.”

“They start what they call their acceptance test in early November so they state introducing water into the city systems and slowly and ramping up over time and they do that for a period of 20 days. And if they pass that acceptance test and the state has given the thumbs up that everything’s working properly, then it’ll be a continual flow of the new surface water to the cities and they can start using that reliably.”

The surface water will be pumped through an underground pipeline installed along Hatch Road to the new tank constructed at the Ceres River Bluff Regional Park. From there the water will be pumped a short distance where it will be infused at a point near the intersection of Hatch and Mitchell roads.

Ceres currently relies on 14 wells to extract water which undergoes expensive treatment. The city will still need to use groundwater conjunctively with river water, especially in the summer when peak use hits around 11 million gallons per day since the plant will only initially supply up to five million gallons to the Ceres system. An estimated 75 percent of the water consumed in winter months will be treated river water.

In its first phase, the plant is being sized to process 15 million gallons of water per day for both cities, with Ceres taking five million gallons and the balance going to Turlock. A second phase expansion of the plant will give Ceres the capacity to receive up to 15 million gallons per day; and a third phase an additional 15 mgd production. Those phases would be driven by factors such as growth in the cities and groundwater availability.

To pay for the $195 million plant, the city councils of both Ceres and Turlock enacted a series of water rate increases. Granberg said that the JPA borrowed $184.9 million for the construction after receiving $35 million in grant funds. Borrowing from the State Revolving Fund at 1.2 percent interest rate has saved the project $100 million it would have incurred through 4 percent interest rate municipal bond financing.

Based on water needs of their populations, Ceres will pay roughly a third of the cost, or $61.6 million, while Turlock is responsible for two-thirds, or $123.3 million.

The annual debt service for Ceres is $2.5 million over 30 years and approximately $1.7 million for operations and maintenance depending on staff, electrical and chemical costs.

Granberg, who has been working on the project since 2018, said he is excited to see the plant come to fruition.

“The cities are going to see a tremendous benefit from having a new source of water,” said Granberg. “It’s a good way to do it – to have a point source to treat it there and then regionally distribute it out.”

The pipes were built in mind if the city of Hughson or community of Denair decides they want to tap into the plant.

“I think eventually connect at some point in the future.”