Amador County – The Ione City Council finalized its Wastewater Master Plan last week with a public hearing, setting the path for a new tertiary sewage plant at the site of its current system. The council certified its Environmental Impact Report in a final step in the California Environmental Quality Act process, and set in place the “Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.” Consultant Bob Godwin of Lee & Ro told the city council that there were “very few changes” between the Draft EIR and the Final EIR. Changes included corrected terminology, and corrections in the project’s description. Godwin said the conclusion in the Draft EIR was that impacts can be mitigated, in measures defined for all potentially significant impacts. The conclusion also said the “project mitigation will have a less than significant effect on the environment.” It also found that the “proposed action is the best alternative” for meeting all of the project’s objectives. Godwin said the Final EIR responded to public comment about the master plan, and addressed hydrology and water quality, including groundwater, manganese and iron concentrations, and flooding. He said the Final EIR also eliminated an “option to partially line Ponds 5 and 6,” and would instead only partially fill those ponds. It also eliminated “chemical wastewater treatment” at the plant, in favor of Ultra-Violet light disinfection only. City Manager Kim Kerr said the UV treatment would be contained within a structure, instead of the current open pond system used at the plant. Plans will remove 4 ponds and add a percolation pond, and partially fill Ponds 5 and 6, to further separate them from the “actual Sutter Creek.” Godwin said filling the ponds was the recommend by the state Regional Water Quality Control Board. City Attorney Kristen Castanos said the “board can only require qualities,” it cannot tell the city what type of facility to build, and cannot order a pond filled, but only recommend actions. Councilman David Plank asked if the percolation pond was a short-term or long-term solution. Kerr said the pond is a percolation area, which evaporates effluent as a means of disposal, and it would be considered “long-term.” Godwin said the “purpose of the percolation ponds is to have a system the city can entirely operate.” With it, the “city will have an ability to have a fallback,” if avenues of disposal dry up. He said “most users of reclaimed water want it seasonally,” for summertime and watering time. Godwin said the plant seeks permitting for a treatment capacity of 1.6 million gallons a day, and it will have a disposal capacity of half that total, at 800,000 gallons a day. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.