Barry Elementary connecting to city water

Michaela Harris, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·3 min read

Oct. 4—Yuba City Unified School District Board of Trustees approved the final resolution with Yuba City to establish the Barry Water Service Agreement during a meeting on Sept. 27.

With this agreement, Yuba City will be able to provide water services to Barry Elementary School in Yuba City, which will greatly improve the quality of drinking water for students and faculty on campus.

According to the district's Facilities Master Plan, water quality has been a significant issue for Barry Elementary staff due to the unsafe quality of the water and the accumulating cost of providing bottled water to students.

The school's water system has posed major issues over the years and has been long out of compliance. Barry Elementary was once served by wells, but its close proximity to HSD Trucking posed health risks to students, the Appeal previously reported. In 2014, the school announced that the water had been contaminated with E. coli and arsenic making it undrinkable for students, the Appeal previously reported.

According to a 2016 report by the Environmental Integrity Project on state arsenic levels in water, Barry Elementary School arsenic levels have averaged 50% above the federal limit for arsenic over the previous five years.

The Water Service Agreement established that Barry Elementary exists outside the incorporated boundaries of Yuba City within Sutter County, and neither the county nor any public agency is currently providing water services to the school.

Although the school is located outside the city's existing boundaries, it still remains within Yuba City's sphere of influence. In order to transfer potable water to the school, the city will construct an additional water line connected to an existing line on Railroad Avenue from Bogue Road. A new 1.2 mile distribution line will be constructed along Railroad Avenue and Barry Road, officials said.

The Yuba City City Council estimated that the project will cost approximately $100,000, the Appeal previously reported.

According to a project summary from the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, the State Water Board's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund will be financing the project. As listed in the agreement, the city will pay for these costs with the intent of being reimbursed by state funding. Yuba City Unified has also agreed to make payments for the water service to the city upon completion of the project. While the district will be responsible for incurred fees later on, the construction and implementation of the project will have no fiscal impact on the district, according to a staff report.

The district will also be required to fully disconnect from the contaminated well system. A backflow regulator will be installed by the city to ensure no future connections can contaminate the water distribution system, the agreement said. The district will also be responsible for ensuring that no water from the onsite well system is applied to the new water lines.

The district expects the construction of new water distribution lines for the Barry Water Service Agreement to be completed by June 1, 2025, in preparation for the 2025/26 school year.