The water supply for Ripon is entirely groundwater.
As a way of supplementing that, the City has explored the possibility of connecting to the South San Joaquin Irrigation District’s water supply project.
This treated surface water could extend the life of existing wells and provide a recharge to the ground water.
City Administrator Kevin Werner said at the Sept. 12 Council meeting that staff had looked at various funding sources to construct a pipeline including the San Joaquin Council of Governments’ One Voice trips to Washington, D.C.
“Unfortunately, it’s hard to get grants for a city the size of Ripon without economic hardships,” he said.
As a follow up from the recent One Voice trip, staff looked at consultants to help obtain grant funding, including that of California Consulting, LLC.
This firm specializes in identifying, researching, and writing grants for government entities. Founded in 2004, California Consulting has quickly established a reputation for hard work and commitment to success for its clients – the City of Chino, thanks to this firm, was able to secure over $500,000 in grants for the Housing Related Parks Program (See: www.californiaconsulting.org).
Elected leaders unanimously agreed to hire California Consulting, LLC to help pursue grant funding for the City’s surface water supply project, with the cost not to exceed $28,500. Werner confirmed that the money will come from the water fund.
The two possible sources identified, according to staff report, were State Water Resources Control Board: Water Recycling Funding Program, and the Bureau of Reclamation Water Recycling Grant Program.
Councilman Daniel de Graaf indicated that a consultant could be beneficial in other ways.
“(California Consulting) could reach out to SSJID to see if there are partnering opportunities,” he said.

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com.