By Harold Kitching
Casa Grande Dispatch
Two contracts allowing the city of Casa Grande to begin work toward a recharge facility for effluent from the sewage treatment plant gained initial approval Monday night.
The city has purchased 140 acres about a quarter mile north and northeast of the sewer plant with the intention of building a series of recharge basins that would allow treated water to trickle into underground storage.
The acreage would be integrated into Dave White Regional Park and a trails system master plan, making it a recreation area in addition to recharging up to 2,100 acre-feet per year of treated water. The facility would be operated in conjunction with the city’s managed recharge facility in the north branch of the Santa Cruz Wash, a quarter mile northwest of the sewer plant. Together, the facilities would recharge up to 3,500 acre-feet a year.