The $11.54m project is designed to address waste discharge requirements issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, and it includes improvements to the treatment system and an irrigation reuse system that beneficially reuses treated effluent offsetting the use of canal water.
The project has secured $7.7m grants from USDA’s Rural Development, the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) Small Community Grant Program, and from the CA Department of Housing & Community Development through Colusa County.
The final project improves treatment while keeping in operation the relatively simple pond system and reuses all the treated effluent to grow alfalfa for animal feed, and serves as model for small community solutions everywhere.
District general manager David Wadsworth said the funding provided by the community of Maxwell, the USDA and the SWRCB have allowed Maxwell to access the funding necessary to comply with water quality regulations.
Maxwell Public Utility District is a special district representing the small community of Maxwell 80 miles north of Sacramento.
