SEWAGE COSTS SET TO SURGE? HOMEOWNERS' FEES WOULD TRIPLE WITH NEW PROPOSAL.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Proposed upgrades to Lancaster's sewage treatment plant and the acquisition of 5,400 acres for storing treated sewage and using it on farm crops would more than triple homeowners' annual sewer fees from $67 to $220.

The $200 million proposal is the latest plan to meet anticipated population growth and obey a state mandate to stop letting Lancaster's treated sewage spill onto Edwards Air Force Base's Rosamond Dry Lake.

``We are literally going to rebuild the Lancaster plant,'' said Don Avila, spokesman for Los Angeles County's sanitation districts.

The proposal by Los Angeles County Sanitation District 14 staff calls for increasing the annual fee homeowners pay to $220 in stages over a five-year period.

The district is also proposing to hike the connection fee for new homes from $1,780 to $3,900. That increase would also be phased in over five years.

An environmental impact report on the Lancaster treatment plant operations will be considered by the district's three-member board on Wednesday. The board will also vote to send out public notices on the proposed rate hike.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lancaster City Hall, 44933 Fern Ave.

Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts, a member of the sanitation district board, said he expects the environmental document will be approved, but doesn't know whether the board will accept the recommended plan.

``At this point, all alternatives should be open,'' Roberts said.

Under the recommendation, the district will increase the capacity of the Lancaster treatment plant from 16 million gallons a day to 26 million gallons a day. The water would receive so-called tertiary treatment, meaning it is safe for human contact such as swimming and fishing, officials said.

A small amount of Lancaster's sewage now gets tertiary treatment and is pumped to Apollo Park to fill its lake. Whatever methods the district's board decides to use to increase capacity of the Lancaster facilities, tertiary treatment will likely be one of the components, said Roberts and fellow board member Jim Ledford, Palmdale's mayor.

``Tertiary treatment is a necessary step,'' Ledford said. ``It's the environmentally responsible way to go.''

Civic leaders and water officials on a committee formed by the late state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight called earlier this year for full tertiary treatment.

The water could be used for irrigating parks or landscaping or - eventually - for replenishing the underground aquifer, rather than creating new farm fields just to get rid of it, committee members say.

The idea of injecting the treated water back underground is problematic because it could draw objections from state water quality officials and because the sanitation district is also prohibited by law from becoming a water purveyor, officials said.

The plan calls for acquiring 5,400 acres of land, with 4,650 acres for agriculture that would be irrigated with the treated water, in the sparsely inhabited area between Lancaster and the Edwards Air Force Base border. The other 750 acres would be used for storage ponds.

``Land acquisition is a necessary step we have to take,'' Ledford said. ``We need to get into land ownership because of growth. We've got to have a place for the water to go.''

The land acquisition is strongly opposed by many area property owners. Opponents say the district is too quick to look at acquiring land on Lancaster's east side and has not fully explored other options. The district should look at such options as expanding Apollo Park, which features three lakes supplied by water from the treatment plant; the establishment of wetlands; and ways to increase municipal reuse, the critics said.

The recommendation does include a Lancaster city plan to use tertiary- treated effluent for irrigation of street medians and park landscaping. The city might soon use 500,000 gallons a day and eventually as much as 5 million gallons a day for such purposes.

Federal grants are being sought to begin construction of a pipeline to handle the water. That project is estimated at $20 million, and funding would likely have to be spread over a period of years, city officials said.

Ultimately, officials expect that the demand for recycled water will increase and will become a major component of future plans.

``As costs rise for water, we will be looking at this water differently,'' said Sagar Raksit, an engineer for the sanitation districts.

The Lancaster plant has the capacity to handle about 16 million gallons of sewage a day, but will need to handle 26 million by 2020 to deal with anticipated population growth.

Sanitation officials say the present plant will reach maximum capacity by 2007.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com