
SJC Pipeline to Supply Water to Sendero
By Kim Lefner
By Kim Lefner
A proposed agreement with the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) to use our pipeline to supply water to the Ranch’s new “Sendero” residential development, and to purchase recycled water from the SMWD is surprising in its lack of clarity about several important issues. The water service to Sendero will be for an estimated period of four years while the SMWD builds reservoirs to service the new development.
According to minutes of the September 25 meeting (see Minutes under "Community Links" in the column to the right), the SMWD Board of Directors unanimously approved the agreement to supply water to Sendero via City of San Juan Capistrano water line “SC-4” that runs adjacent to the Sendero development. The pipeline cost our City approximately $6.9 million to construct. According to the SMWD, of the 4.91cfs of water allocated to San Juan through our pipeline, an estimated 41% will be supplied to Sendero. We do not yet know how much of this capacity is being used to service SJC water needs especially the high altitude uses. Do we have enough excess capacity to meet our needs with 59% of what we are now getting?