|
Become a friend of the Klamath Bucket Brigade All donations are tax deductible |
|
This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Community breaks ground for reservoir tank, waterlines
 |
| A water reservoir above Newell will soon have a neighbor after Converse construction erects a new 100,000 gallon tank for the Northern California town. |
NEWELL — The water system in this unincorporated town runs underground beneath homes, and when measured 10 years ago, was losing 100,000 acre-feet a year through leaking pipes.
Mike Whitney, a member of the town’s water district board, recalled what happened when a pipe burst beneath one resident’s home.
“It’s the only place in Northern California where you can have a fountain come up in the middle of your floor,” he said.
Reservoir tank
The water district pays between $3,000 and $7,000 a month to pump water from three wells into a reservoir tank on a hill overlooking town, and each household coughs up a steady $56 a month for water service.
But until now, the community didn’t have funding for a project that would benefit the 300 households that connect to the Newell Water District.
Last week, the community broke ground for a new 100,000-gallon reservoir tank that will be in place by spring and new waterlines that should be in the ground by next summer.
The $2 million project will be paid for through a Proposition 50 grant, which supplied nearly $1.5 million, and a Community Development Block Grant, which is federal money funneled through the state.
“We were trying for a lot of years to get some granting, but we were unable to achieve the grants because we don’t know the verbage to attain the grant,” said John Sanders, district manager of the Newell water district.
The water district had expert help from Modoc County, especially Chief Executive Officer Mike Maxwell and Modoc County Board of Supervisors member Dave Bradshaw, who represents Newell.
“Because it’s such a large, old system, they needed a lot of help,” said grant manager Jim Cook. “This community is pretty low income, mostly a farm worker community.”
 |
|
Project cost: $2 million ‘Because it’s such a large, old system, they needed a lot of help. This community is pretty low income, mostly a farm worker community.’ — Jim Cook Grant manager |
Aging infrastructure
The town’s infrastructure was built for a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, and its water system was installed at that time by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy’s Seabees.
And although water quality is sufficient, aesthetically it is unpleasant, Whitney said.
“It’s awful,” he said. “You make coffee and an hour later it looks like the oil tanker Valdez crashed in your cup.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,
any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or
payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this
information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml