City approves water master plan (December 7, 2023)
BULLHEAD CITY — The Bullhead City Water Master Plan was formally accepted at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
The document, which cost $1.6 million, outlines the city’s water system assets, functions and needs of the water system acquired from EPCOR last year.
“This is the first time the city has had a comprehensive master plan put together,” Utilities Director Mark Clark said. “When Citizen’s owned the water company, they never had one, when American Water owned the water system, they never had one and when EPCOR owned the water system, they did not have one.”
The master plan details what the utilities system will need in the future and where in the system it will be needed, Clark said.
In addition to maintenance, the plan also shows where improvements can be made to the system.
Clark gave improved water pressure and the elimination of booster stations as examples of such upgrades.
In response to a question posed by Councilmember Dan Alfonzo, Clark said the city did not currently have the ability to switch or transfer water between the internal systems, but implementing interconnectivity was also in the water master plan.
“It’s a very strategic plan. It makes us very efficient and very effective in how we’re going to produce water and how we’re going to get water to our end customers,” Clark said.
The improvements and needed upgrades will be expensive, but the city will be seeking grant opportunities to offset costs.
Mayor Steve D’Amico was particularly excited about a grant funded opportunity the city is seeking to improve the quality of local drinking water.
“We could actually have good, clean water that you can drink out of a faucet,” D’Amico said.
He said the water system would have never had ability to seek such funding before now because the grant is not available to companies like EPCOR.
City Manager Toby Cotter estimated about $15 million had been spent on the water system so far, in addition to purchasing the system for $100 million. He noted the city had not raised rates during the two years it has owned the system.
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Source: Fred Mayson, mohavedailynews.com/news/city-approves-water-master-plan/article_c2d2a4fc-946c-11ee-9f97-bbc8d67e1b4d.html