As the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation gifted emergency drought relief funding to the Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board (COMB), things were wrapping up on an emergency pumping facility project that will help Lake Cachuma’s water get to Southern Santa Barbara County.
The $300,000 federal grant announced on Aug. 14 is earmarked for the cost of the electrical power necessary to supply the emergency pumps, according to Randy Ward, COMB’s general manager.
He added that running power to the pump is expected to cost between $20,000 and $40,000 a month. If the system only has to run for, say, six months, the grant should cover the electricity bill. How long the pump has to run, however, depends on the weather. COMB started the emergency pumping system project because the water conveyance system to South County is gravity fed by the lake. As the drought hangs on, the lake’s water level continues to drop; it’s expected to drop below the intake this fall.
Design, engineering, construction, and materials for the pumps and its associated system parts cost COMB almost $6 million.
“COMB and its member units have been working on [getting] funding from the state,” Ward said. “Sen. [Hannah-Beth] Jackson and Assemblymember [Das] Williams have been very engaged.”
The search for state funding has yet to bear fruit.
U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) said in a press release that funding was made available through the 1995 Drought Act, which enables the Bureau of Reclamation to help minimize or mitigate drought damages or losses. The Cachuma project was one of two projects that received funding the week of Aug. 11.
“This drought crisis is the most urgent problem facing our state and the Central Coast, and it requires a collaborative effort by many,” Capps said in the press release.
As summer comes to a close, the emergency pumping facility project is complete.
“It was successfully tested last week and met or exceeded all design and engineering expectations,” Ward said on Aug. 19.
This article appears in Aug 21-28, 2014.