The Ceres City Council approved a resolution last week which gets the ball rolling on issuing bonds to help finance the surface water plant jointly built between the cities of Ceres and Turlock.

Both cities are members of a joint powers authority under the name of the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority (SRWA). In June the JPA Authority awarded a $195.4 million design-build contract for the design and construction of the plant to CH2M Hill. The firm will complete the raw water pump station, design and construct raw and finished water pipelines and a 15 million gallon per day water treatment plant (WTP). The project costs will be funded by both cities and Turlock Irrigation District. 

The project is expected to be completed in August 2023.

The SRWA agrees to deliver 15 million gallons of treated water per day with 5 MGD being supplied to Ceres and 10 MGD supplied to Turlock. The water will be comingled with ground water.

Each partner will pay for its share of the capital costs which are expected to reach $285 million with the city of Ceres paying $89 million.

The bonds will be used to pay the bills and to bridge the gap until loan funds roll in from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) in six months. It is estimated not to exceed $20 million in expenditures.

The SRWA secured water rights for the project from TID last June.