Proposed Wheeling of Town of Windsor’s
Recycled Water in Geysers Project Pipeline
City Council / BPU Liaison Subcommittee
September 18, 2022
Peter Martin – Deputy Director Water Resources
Geysers Project
Operations Today
• ~4 Billion Gallons sent to Geysers
annually
• Contract has performance requirements
for Santa Rosa
• Monetary and pumping cost
contributions by Calpine
• About 2/3 of total recycled water is sent
to steamfields annually
• Lowest cost, weather-independent,
water reuse option for Santa Rosa and
regional partners
• Llano pump station conveys
water 30 miles to buried tank at
Bear Canyon
• Three pump stations pump in
series to convey water from
Bear Canyon to the Terminal
tank at Calpine’s steam fields
Pumping Operations
for Geysers Pipeline
Existing Turn-out
Proposed Point of
Connection
Existing Turn-out
Proposed Point of
Connection
Geysers
Pipeline
Windsor
Reclamation
Facility
7 • Staff have met with Town of Windsor and
identified key terms and conditions of a future
agreement
• Staff have met with Jackson Family Wines staff to
discuss technical specifications of a potential tie-in
at turn out
Project Proposal Update
Questions
from last
CC/BPU
Liaison
Meeting
8 How much excess capacity does
the pipeline have right now?
What is the benefit to Santa
Rosa?
What are the risks and how will
they be mitigated?
9 • Design pumping capacity > 35 Million Gallons per
Day (MGD)
• Average daily flow to Geysers 11 – 12 MGD
• Max historical flow 18.5 MGD
• Permitted Capacity for Windsor Reclamation
Facility 1.9 MGD / Pump Station Capacity 1.5 MGD
How much excess capacity exists in pipeline?
10 • Use Existing Infrastructure Capacity
• Currently have unused capacity in the pipeline; cost
recovery for using the capacity
• Turnouts were constructed in anticipation of future
delivery of recycled water in the region
• Offset surface water supplies – Reduces reliance on
Russian River
• Partnerships and Regional Supply Benefits –
Opportunity to prove concept and potential future
water supply resiliency options for our region
What is the benefit to Santa Rosa?
What Are the Risks
and how will they
be mitigated?
• Existing operations
• Existing contractual obligations
• Connecting to Geysers system
• Cost recovery
• Legal / Regulatory
11 12
• Recycled water will be provided solely by Town of
Windsor
• “Wheeling” Agreement for utilizing excess pipeline
capacity will be between Santa Rosa and Town of
Windsor
• Town of Windsor will have agreement with Jackson
Family Wines for sale and delivery of recycled water
Proposed Terms and Conditions for Future
Agreement
13 • Agreement will be separate from and subordinate to existing 2008 agreement for conveying Town of Windsor’s water to Geysers
• Any water conveyed under this agreement is interruptible, subordinate to operational needs of Santa Rosa and Town of Windsor’s geysers project delivery priority
• Operations plan for deliveries must be approved by Santa Rosa to ensure accounting and priority is preserved
Proposed Terms and Conditions for Future
Agreement
14 • Santa Rosa has design approval and construction oversight for connection to the Geysers pipeline
• Santa Rosa to be compensated for all costs related to pre- construction, design review, construction oversight and any operational/administrative costs
• Windsor responsible for any and all permits, licenses and easements/ROW
• Windsor responsible for O&M downstream of the turnout Proposed Terms and Conditions for Future
Agreement
15 • Term - 10-year term
• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
• Windsor will be lead agency
• Santa Rosa will be responsible agency
• Standard indemnities / defense
• Risks passed to appropriate responsible party
Proposed Terms and Conditions for Future
Agreement
Questions and Feedback