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Sonoma Water briefs Petaluma on transmission projects, cites long lead times and resiliency upgrades
Summary
Sonoma Water presented updates on transmission-system capital and maintenance projects affecting Petaluma, citing lengthy equipment lead times on a booster station, FEMA-funded resiliency work, tank recoating and aquifer storage pilot testing ahead of the FY 2026–27 budget process.
Sonoma Water told the Petaluma City Council on Jan. 26 that a slate of transmission-system projects are nearing completion and that longer-term work will feed into the city's March budget discussions.
“It's about this time last year that we were reporting … our various contractors,” said Ken Gilphy, Sonoma Water’s director of engineering, who described active construction such as the Eli Booster Pump Station and a multiyear tank-rehabilitation program. Gilphy said the Eli station experienced major procurement delays: “electrical gear … took 3 and a half years for that gear to arrive.” He said the Eli work is FEMA-funded to elevate equipment out of flood-prone areas and that the station is scheduled to be energized this month with completion expected in May following generator relocation and elevation.
The agency described completed and near-complete work on storage tanks, noting removal of older coal-tar linings at one Castania tank and combined storage of roughly 18 million gallons along the Petaluma Aqueduct. Gilphy also summarized well rehabilitation in the Santa Rosa Plain funded in part by a $6.9 million state drought‑resiliency grant; Occidental Road Well drilling, he said, has closed out and activation contracts are expected to be substantially complete soon.
David Royal, assistant general manager for Sonoma Water’s operations and maintenance group, spoke about a new computerized maintenance-management system the agency has implemented. “What we've done over the last two years … is populate it with all of our assets,” Royal said, adding that field mobile access will let staff generate and track work orders and capture labor and cost data to inform future asset‑management and replacement plans.
Council members asked about cybersecurity and water treatment. Royal said Sonoma Water coordinates with County of Sonoma IT and reported a prior unsuccessful probe from an overseas actor without malicious consequence; he described on‑site chlorination at extraction caissons and subsequent dosing with caustic at treatment to prevent leaching from pipes.
Why it matters: the presentation serves as a budget planning briefing. Staff noted several projects will fall into the FY 2026–27 capital budget and that the master-plan work will prioritize projects through 2045. Council members and staff will revisit the topics when Sonoma Water returns with budget and rate information in March.
What’s next: Sonoma Water will return for the FY 2026–27 budget and rate-setting presentations, and staff said grant closeouts and contract completions are expected in the coming months.
