Officials discuss water plan
Ontario leaders convene with consultants
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Monday, July 21, 2008 11:12 AM PDT
Ontario—Water proved to be the central theme of a meeting July 9 at Ontario city hall between city officials and consultants working on a long-term plan to address the city’s water infrastructure requirements.
Keller Associates — the firm in charge of the update plan — Project Manager Justin Walker said his firm looked at how the city would expand in the next 60 years and how that would affect water and wastewater usage to help frame the growth blueprint.
Keller Associates estimated Ontario’s population in 2025 at 15,692 — or a growth rate of about 1.6 percent — with a 2060 population checking in at 25,167 — a growth rate of 1.4 percent.
However, former Ontario Planning and Zoning Director Grant Young said he did not believe the 1.6 percent growth premise. Instead, Young said Ontario’s growth rate would be slower.
“We did have an extensive debate a couple of months ago,” Interim Ontario Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson.
Keller Associates Principal James Bledsoe said it was more most cost-effective to overestimate population growth than it would be to underestimate it.
“It’s cheaper to put in a 10-inch pipe rather than an 8-inch pipe then have to dig up the 8 later to put in a 10,” he said.
He also said that city water improvement were tied to when the population reaches a certain level, rather than any set year.
City officials, staff, and committee members in attendance also received current information about the Keller Associates timetable regarding the update blueprint.
“We are behind on aerial photography and contour data,” Walker said.
The photography and contour data was supposed to be finished in May, according to the schedule.
“It’s done,” he said. “I just got that data today.”
Also taking more time than expected is Ontario’s surveying and flow monitoring plan, which would help the group better understand how the water moves around the city. That plan was slated to be completed at the end of June.
“It’s a little behind due to equipment problems,” Walker said.
He said the city equipment to monitor the water had not been used in a long time and was not functioning. However, he said the issue was not a critical item and that the monitoring would continue with different gear.
Walker also spoke about Ontario’s water storage capacity, which he recommended should sustain the town for at least one average day. However, he said he would prefer Ontario store enough for two or three days, since there is only one water treatment plant in town, which limits the city’s options should it be compromised for any reason. Thursday, Mickelson said Ontario currently has a little over a day in stored water. The last master plans from 2001 and 2002 mention the need for an additional tank. Mickelson said the updated master plans will also include this information.
Walker also discussed Ontario’s current water usage, asserting Heinz Frozen Food Company, situated at 175th Northeast Sixth Avenue, used 47.4 percent of Ontario’s total water consumption in August 2007. The company also accounted for 53 percent of the city’s water usable in 2007.
In 2007, Heinz Frozen Food Company used an average of 1,924 gallons of water per minute. Walker said the amount of water Heinz Frozen Food Company uses probably isn’t surprising to members of the audience who work with water. Residents, he said, used around 35 percent in August 2007 with yearly usage at 29 percent. Other big water users are the Snake River Correctional Institute — at an average of 261 gallons of water per minute — and a mobile home park situated at 1021 Southeast Ninth Avenue at an average at 21 gallons of water per minute. The Pilot Travel Center, located at 653 East Idaho Avenue, closes out the list at 11 gallons of water per minute.
Expanding the timeframe, Walker then talked about what Ontario’s water usage looks like in an average 24 hour period during August 2006. Walker’s data showed peak usage hours of around 8:30 a.m., 12:30 a.m., and 9:30 p.m.
The first number he said was normally when crops are irrigated, with 8:30 a.m. signifying when most people wake up in the morning.
This same peak was shown at 9:30 p.m., which is when he said most of Ontario’s population gets ready to go to sleep.
Keller Associates plans to present concepts regarding Ontario’s future traffic circulation at the next Ontario meeting in August. The group is slated to provide an overall draft report by the end of the year.
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