The "City of Planned Progress" is looking forward to the year 2000. With an eye toward planning for tomorrow, the City of Pleasanton is taking a lead role in developing adequate sewage disposal capacity to meet the future growth needs of the Tri-Valley area.

As a member agency of the Livermore-Amador Valley Water Management Agency (LAWMA), Pleasanton is playing an important part in planning for an expansion to the Tri-Valley's sewer system designed to add 3 to 4 years of additional sewer disposal capacity. LAVWMA was formed in 1974 as a joint powers agency in order to build and operate wastewater disposal facilities for its member agencies, the City of Pleasanton, the City of Livermore, and the Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD). Each of the three has two appointed representatives on the LAVWMA Board of Directors; Pleasanton's current appointees are Mayor Bob Butler and Council Member Ken Mercer.

Under the present system, wastewater from both Pleasanton and DSRSD is treated at the DSRSD treatment plant; Livermore has its own treatment plant. From there, treated effluent flows to the LAVWMA export pipeline west over the hills toward Hayward, eventually to be discharged into San Francisco Bay. The total capacity of the current LAVWMA disposal system is 16.62 millions of gallons a day (mgd). The expansion of LAVWMA being planned would add 3.1 mgd to the disposal system to be shared among the three member agencies. Construction of improvements necessary to bring the new capacity on line would be paid for entirely by new users of the sewer capacity.

Pleasanton, however, is taking a long range view to planning by beginning a study of needs beyond the additional 3.1 mgd. In conjunction with DSRSD, they have begun planning for a comprehensive study of solutions to provide sewer capacity designed to meet growth needs allowed by the general plans of Tri-Valley cities to the year 2000.

Pleasanton's strategy is to plan for the long-term rather than take a piecemeal approach. Joined with DSRSD (which provides sewer services to the residents of Dublin and most of San Ramon) in a Joint Sewer Committee, the two agencies will commission the study to come up with alternatives and recommend a solution to the long-term needs of the Tri-Valley. As part of the study, they will request input from other Tri-Valley land use planning agencies, to include all the cities in the area, Contra Costa County and Alameda County or Zone 7 of the Alameda County Water District. The study itself is likely to take over a year to complete.

Under a moderate rate of growth, Pleasanton will need sewer capacity to accommodate its needs through the year 2000. It currently has only about 330,000 gallons of capacity that is not already allocated to specific developments. Without the additional sewer expansion solutions to be explored by the long-term needs study, growth might be subject to a complete moratorium in the next few years, with serious impacts on the economic fiscal well-being of the city.

The long-term disposal alternatives to be studied include construction of a pipeline parallel to the existing pipeline to the west which ultimately flows into San Francisco Bay, or a separate pipeline north to Suisun Bay or east to the San Joaquin Valley. Another possibility which may appeal to advocates of water conservation is reclamation. The highly treated water, which is purified well beyond the level of ordinary tapwater, would be used in the Tri-Valley for landscape irrigation or for agricultural or industrial purposes. A combination of several of these alternatives is also possible.

Pleasanton takes the view that long-range advance planning is necessary in order to preserve the current quality environment of the area while ensuring the benefits of controlled economic growth.

To see a reproduction of the original article and edition of Pleasanton Pathways, visit: November 10, 1983 Pathways.