Antioch’s plan to build a desalination plant to clear up the city’s brackish water got another boost this week when the City Council unanimously approved $15 million in interim financing.
The almost $70 million project aims to develop a reliable, drought-resistant water supply so the city doesn’t have to depend so much on buying water and can use Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta water year-round.
Antioch’s current water supply, which mainly comes from the river, serves more than 112,000 residents within a 28.8-square-mile area. But the quantity and quality of the water at the intake is largely impacted by factors outside the city’s control, such as sea level rise, state water operations and other Delta projects, according to city officials.
In his update at Tuesday’s council meeting, City Manager Ron Bernal said the city is in process of bidding out the contract for the brackish desalination plant and already has secured $92 million it could use for the project.
“This request is to provide $15 million in a line of credit to provide cash flow between when we pay invoices and when we get reimbursed by the state,” he said.
City Finance Director Dawn Merchant explained that despite state funding and a loan, “there will be a significant amount of time when we’re paying for contractor payments but we won’t have the ability to draw down on those funds yet.”
Because the state provides the money as reimbursement, the city has to wait up to 60 days to receive it, according to the staff report. The city will pay approximately 1% interest on the financial agreement with Bank of the West.
The main sources of financing for the project include a $27 million state settlement related to the city’s pre-1914 water rights, a $10 million state grant for the plant’s design and construction, and a $55 million low-interest loan from the Department of Water Resources’ Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
The financing agreement is similar to a commercial line of credit, allowing the city to access funds when needed; it’ll be repaid by the expected state grant, settlement funds and loans.
Earlier this month, the council approved a $370,000 contract with HB Consulting of Moraga to manage the project, which is expected to take about two years to complete.
Founded in 1850, Antioch has pre-1914 rights to pump water from the Delta. But it cannot do so in the summer and fall, when the river flow is diminished and saltwater intrudes, which has happened more frequently in recent years. That’s when the city buys water from the Contra Costa Water District, then treats it before delivering.
To avoid that, the city plans to build a plant that will treat and convert 6 million gallons a day of brackish water that it pumps from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to drinking water for the city’s residents and businesses. Plans include construction of a 4.3-mile-long brine disposal pipeline from the deslination facility to the Delta Diablo Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Earlier, the state agreed to pay Antioch $27 million in a settlement that guarantees the city’s 150-year old rights to pump water from the Delta for the long term and to pay for the desalination plant.
In return, the city agreed to drop a provision in a 1968 water rights deal that required the state to reimburse it for one-third of the cost to buy substitute water from the Contra Costa Water District when the Delta water becomes too salty.
