| Sun, The (San Bernardino, CA) June 20, 2003 Victorville to use reclaimed water on golf course grounds Author: CHUCK MUELLER, Staff Writer Section: News Estimated printed pages: 2 Article Text: VICTORVILLE - A $900,000 pipeline to deliver recycled water to the golf course at Southern California Logistics Airport will be this city's first project using reclaimed water. The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan Region, has granted a permit to the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority to convey the reclaimed water, said authority General Manager Daniel Gallagher. "The authority will construct three miles of pipeline from its treatment plant on Shay Road to the nine-hole, city-owned course,' he said. The Westwinds Golf Course at the airport is expected to use 300- to 400-acre-feet of recycled water annually to irrigate greens and fairways. "That's a significant saving of water now pumped from the water table to irrigate the course,' said Public Works Director Guy Patterson. An acre-foot, about 326,000 gallons, is the amount of water a typical family of four consumes in a year. "It will be our first project using recycled water,' Patterson said. "We're way behind (other communities) in the use of reclaimed water.' He said the pipeline project won't be the first using recycled water at the airport, formerly George Air Force Base. The city plans to redesign the irrigation system to allow reclaimed water to irrigate parks, athletic fields and roadways at the airport. "We shouldn't use groundwater there, especially during periods of drought,' Patterson said. "Recycled water is 'drought-proof,' so to speak. It's always there as a constant flow of wastewater from homes and businesses.' Gallagher said the Air Force irrigated the golf course with recycled water, but switched to groundwater when the former air base connected its system to the the regional wastewater collection and treatment authority in 1981. After the base closed in December 1992, the city continued to irrigate trees at the golf course with water pumped from wells operated by the city of Adelanto, said Jon Gargan, Victorville's assistant director of community services. "Officials agreed it was important to protect the investment,' he said. Irrigation of trees, greens and fairways is a major expense, representing about $100,000 annually in the city's $700,000 budget for the course. Patterson said Victorville expects to complete designs for the recycling system in about a month. It will take six to eight months to construct the pipeline and tie it into the airport's irrigation system. (c) 2003 The Sun. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. Record Number: 1468363 |