Los Osos’ first new production water well is getting ready to award a construction contract that will add the water to the Community Services District’s portfolio and take one more step in the battle against seawater intrusion.
The LOCSD’s Board of Directors was slated Feb. 28 to approve releasing the bid package for construction of the transmission system for its so-called “Program C Well Project,” that has an overall cost estimate of $2.6 million.
The transmission line (water main) will run from the well site located at Bay Oaks Drive and South Bay Boulevard and tie into the CSD’s water system at Nipomo Avenue and Mountain View Drive, according to a CSD staff report.
The CSD has been working on the Program C well for some 5 years now. The well itself has already been drilled and awaits the piping so it can be added to the CSD’s water supply.
It’s the first new well being done under the Basin Plan, which was written to address extensive seawater intrusion into the underground basin that is the sole source of drinking water for all of Los Osos. The CSD is one of three water purveyors, plus SLO County, involved in the basin management efforts.
The idea is to move production further inland and away from the area of seawater intrusion, which roughly stretches from the Back Bay inland along the LOVR corridor nearly to Palisades Avenue.
The transmission line is approximate 3,200 feet of 8-inch PVC pipeline. This portion of the project has already been designed and undergone permitting through SLO County and only needs an encroachment permit to dig up the County-maintained streets in order to move forward.
The design documents, i.e. plans and specifications, were done by Water Systems Consulting under a separate contract and the engineering firm, The Wallace Group, prepared the bid package.
Deadline to bid on the job is 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30. If the low bid comes in within 20% of the engineer’s estimate, the CSD general manager will be able to award it without Board approval.
The construction portion of the transmission pipeline is estimated at about $964,000 (or somewhere between $915,000 and $1.06 million), according to the bid package.
If none of the bids comes in at a reasonable cost, the general manager will return to the Board for direction on where to go from there.
The CSD secured some $1.5 million in grants for the project, which greatly reduces the cost to CSD ratepayers.
Though it’s just 3,200 feet in length, the new water line will have to cross busy Los Osos Valley Road over to Mountain View and run up to the Nipomo Avenue tie-in or a bit over half a mile.
