Will new Elk Grove homes have recycled water as their primary source? Who do you trust?
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| Can the Elk Grove Public Works Director be trusted on his statement about recycled water in new homes? | |
Over the last several days, an interesting indirect dialogue has developed between a government watchdog and the city of Elk Grove. The dialogue is focused on the recycled water project, also known as the Sacramento Sewer District's Harvest Water.
The Sacramento Sewer District is embarking on the nearly $600 million Harvest Water Project to deliver highly treated recycled wastewater to irrigate approximately 16,000 acres of farmland and habitat in southern Sacramento County. Additionally, through so-called purple pipes, the recycled water is being used in several Elk Grove neighborhoods.
Buried in yesterday's Elk Grove City Council meeting's consent calendar agenda was the announcement that Elk Grove was abandoning its purple pipes in the city's 1,200-acre new housing area, the Southeast Policy Area (SEPA).
Responding to the change that was buried in the city council agenda was government watchdog Lynn Wheat. In her podcast More Than Three Minutes, Wheat questioned why this was happening (the podcast is available below).
Curiously, Elk Grove Public Works Director Jeff Werner was interviewed on a local TV news program on Tuesday regarding the otherwise below-the-radar topic.
The first question is how something that was buried in the consent calendar suddenly warranted a TV news interview. Did the news outlet listen to Ms.Wheat's podcast and make inquiries to the city, or did the city, hoping to create its narrative about the project's demise, call a favor and request the interview?
In any case, even though California is facing a worsening water shortage in the face of ongoing drought threats and population growth, Mr. Werner said the $48 million cost was too much of a burden on taxpayers. This is the same city hall government, led by Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, that wasted over $4 million - money down the drain - in pursuit of the Sacramento Zoo, much less be willing to saddle taxpayers with $114 million in debt for a discretionary project.
In other words, the city is unwilling to invest in water infrastructure but is willing to spend millions of taxpayers' dollars on Mayor Singh-Allen's vanity projects.
While Mr. Werner's recommendation to cancel the purple pipe project was justified based on its costs, Wheat's explanation was direct. The elimination of infrastructure and the purple pipes from new housing developments was a gift to developers - the people who fund the city council members' campaigns and exert an oversized influence on how Elk Grove operates.
After Wheat's comments at last night's city council meeting about the project (see first video below), Werner reiterated what he said during the TV interview about cost-benefits. Werner also answered a question from Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, who asked if residents are at risk of "drinking recycled sewer water."
Werner did not entirely deny Wheat's assertion, saying, "Not that I'm aware of."
It should be noted that Werner has developed cozy relationships with the development community over the last few years as Public Works Director. Unlike the rest of the city's executive team, who have curtailed their acceptance of gifts, Werner has continued to accept them.
What does this mean for homes to be built in the SEPA and other areas?
The absence of purple pipes in the SEPA area could mean that, as statewide water supplies tighten and demand increases, the primary source of water in these and other future homes may someday be recycled water.
And make no mistake, recycled water is safe for human consumption (See this presentation on Orange County's long-term recycled water project). However, it does indicate that a switch and bait strategy is underway - if you don't have purple pipes in your house, at some point in the future, the use of recycled water will become mandatory.
What this boils down to is this: who can be trusted?
Can you believe the city officials and politicians beholden to developers who are creating what could be a massive bait-and-switch scam on residents, or an informed citizen who seems to be asking questions that city hall doesn't like answering?
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1 comment
Thank you, Lynn. Seems she’s the only one in our 178,000 city that is looking out for us, all of us. She has my gratitude and my attention. Please continue to search for the truth through the city’s hidden agenda(s).
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