“Years of collaboration have paid off with the formation of the Santa Rosa Regional Resource Authority (SRRRA), which will provide water reuse services to residential and business customers in the city of Murrieta,” announced Rancho California Water District’s (RCWD) General Manager Jeffrey Armstrong.
“Coming together as partners to maximize our wastewater services benefits the community as a whole while also keeping service costs as low as possible for our customers,” said Western Municipal Water District’s (Western) General Manager John Rossi. “In moving forward with planning and managing operations, combining our efforts will effectively ensure the facility continues to meet our customers’ needs.”
The new joint powers authority, comprised of RCWD, Western and Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD), was formed to represent local interest in the facility and to best serve the community. The SRRRA is comprised of one publicly elected official representing each participating agency.
The SRRRA JPA representatives for each agency are:
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District – Andy Morris (primary); Phil Williams (alternate)
Rancho California Water District – John E. Hoagland (primary); Bennett R. Drake (alternate)
Western Municipal Water District – Brenda Dennstedt (primary); S.R. “Al” Lopez (alternate)
This authority will jointly oversee the activities of the new entity. Responsibilities of the SRRRA include establishing policies and objectives; overseeing administration; approving annual budgets; and implementing programs to ensure the facility operates efficiently.
“Our strong, decades-long working relationships ensured that this partnership will be a positive one for the region and provide our customers with high-quality wastewater services for years to come,” said John Vega, general manager for EVMWD.
Prior to the joint agreement, RCWD owned and operated the facility while Western and EVMWD owned portions of the facility in some capacity. Under the supervision of the SRRRA, RCWD will continue to administer the operations, management and maintenance of the facility.
The facility will undergo a $24.4 million rehabilitation as part of the agreement; this rehabilitation is anticipated to meet the needs of the community for the next 20 years. A celebratory event will be held in early 2016.