San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.comWater & sewage issues swirling on Merriam Mountains

Water & sewage issues swirling on Merriam Mountains

There are new concerns about a proposed 2,700 home development in the North County called Merriam Mountains.  Questions are swirling around water and sewage.  Where will the water be coming from and where will the sewage go?

An extra half-million gallons per day of sewage will flow through the Encina Wastewater Plant in Carlsbad and into the ocean if the Merriam Mountains housing project gets built.

The development is proposed on property 12 miles east of the ocean near Interstate 15 at Deer Springs Road. Developers want to build houses, condominiums and a shopping center as part of a master planned community.

But before sewage flows out of the development, water has to flow in. Merriam Mountains will use an estimated 1.3 million gallons of water per day.

Water attorney Wes Peltzer spoke against Merriam Mountains at a recent planning commission meeting. He says California is in a crisis and can't afford water for more homes.

"Which do you need more? Do you need more houses and another commercial development, or do you need water?" Peltzer said.

Joe Perring, the Merriam Mountains project manager, says the development will use water-wise landscaping.  He's confident the Vallecitos Water District in San Marcos can serve the project.

"If there's no water available, we won't be building our project until it is," Perring said.

Currently there are no plans to use recycled water for irrigation at Merriam Mountains. A 2006 study paid for by the developer concluded a water reclamation plant on site was not cost effective.  Instead, all the sewage will flow downstream.

"Vallecitos recycles water out at their plant in San Marcos and they have a contract to sell that water to the Olivenhain Water District. So our (sewage) will be treated and reused, but not on site," Perring said.

In fact, the Vallecitos Water District tells News 8 that no additional wastewater will be recycled as a result of the Merriam Mountains sewage flow being added to their system.  That's because the Meadowlark Water Reclamation Facility in San Marcos is already contracted at capacity.  That means the vast majority of the sewage from Merriam Mountains will end up at the Encina Wastewater Plant in Carlsbad before being pumped into the ocean.

To carry that sewage, the developer will have to pay his fair share to help build a seven-mile, underground sewage pipeline from San Marcos to Carlsbad.  That pipeline is just part of the more than $43 million in new sewage liness and upgrades the developer is expected to pay for.

Meantime, the County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on the project in December, just one month before strict new water conservation laws are scheduled to go into effect statewide for new developments.

"We think that new developments like ours with water-wise planning and conservation really point the direction arrow for how water will be used in the future," Perring said.

The county planning commission will hold another public hearing and vote on the project this Friday morning. After that, the Board of Supervisors will have the final say.