WOODLAND — Even with the city of Davis not yet on board, construction officially began Tuesday on the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency surface water project, as Woodland city leaders broke ground on the regional water treatment facility site.

The groundbreaking took place in front of the site at 42929 County Road 24 in Woodland.

After giving brief remarks about reaching the milestone, Woodland City Council members and key city staffers tossed ceremonial shovels of dirt into the treatment plant site to illustrate the work that crews must complete over the next two months, filling the site with five feet of soil to ready the land for construction, before winter weather hits.

“This is the first step in improved water quality and improved reliability for the communities of Davis and Woodland,” Woodland Mayor Skip Davies said.

The over-arching Woodland-Davis project will siphon water from the Sacramento River, treat it in the plant and pipe it into Woodland and Davis, replacing the two municipalities’ dependence on deteriorating ground water supplies.

That is, if Davis agrees to participate in the project.

Two weeks ago, the Davis City Council elected to negotiate with West Sacramento for the use of its existing intake facility on the Sacramento River before agreeing to join up with Woodland and move forward with the Woodland-Davis project. The two cities first agreed to that project in 2009.

The council hopes that, based on recommendations made last month by the Davis Water Advisory Committee, it can negotiate for a more affordable connection fee to West Sacramento’s intake facility and a long-term contract for water that could prove to be the better route for the city to bring surface water into Davis.

At the same time, Davis is trying to renegotiate several of the deal points it agreed to with Woodland regarding cost-sharing for the treated water pipeline and the overall cost of the project.

Meanwhile, Woodland may have thrown a monkey wrench into the Davis City Council’s plan.

In an op-ed piece published in today’s Enterprise, Davies and Woodland City Councilman Bill Marble wrote that they will not negotiate further details of the agreement until Davis has committed to the Woodland-Davis project.

“We will consider discussion of prior mutually agreed-upon partnership terms, such as cost-sharing, once Davis determines it will continue as a partner in the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency and concludes discussions and negotiations for an alternative project,” the Woodland council members wrote.

The Davis City Council directed that negotiations with West Sacramento must be carried out by their Oct. 23 meeting so they can finalize ballot language to put the project up for a public vote in the spring.

No members of the Davis council were present at the groundbreaking. However, Marble said one council member had contacted him to say he would have attended if he had been in town.

While Davis continues to deliberate about which project it wants to pursue, Woodland has remained steadfast in its commitment to the joint project it first agreed to pursue with Davis in 2009.

“The city of Woodland has adopted the necessary water rates to support its cost share of the intake and water treatment plant facilities,” Marble said in a prepared statement. “We have also affirmed that we can build a project to provide for Woodland’s needs within those approved rates, regardless of whether or not we have a partner.”

Several other elected officials from the region were in attendance, including Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada and Yolo County Supervisor Matt Rexroad. Representatives from state Sen. Lois Wolk’s and Rep. Mike Thompson’s offices also were present.

— Reach Tom Sakash at [email protected] or (530) 747-8057. Follow him on Twitter @TomSakash

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From left, Jim Hilliard, Bill Marble, Mariko Yamada, Skip Davies, Tom Stallard and Sean Denny shovel dirt into the huge hole that eventually will become the base of the new water treatment plant in Woodland. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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Personnel operate heavy equipment to fill a hole Tuesday that will provide the base of a new water treatment plant in Woodland. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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Woodland City Councilman Bill Marble addresses visitors to the water treatment plant groundbreaking as heavy equipment is operated in the background Tuesday. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

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