With aging pipes in a major Stockton neighborhood where people get their drinking water, San Joaquin County is looking to federal lawmakers to help.
Lincoln Village is an older development in Stockton, right next to the Lincoln Center, and the county is asking for $2 million in help for an ongoing water-line replacement project going there. It's part of nearly $19 million in funding the county is asking federal lawmakers for as part of the 2027 Federal budget process.
"Lincoln Village is a great place to live and so is Stockton," Don Ruhstaller, Lincoln Village resident, said.
It's why Rustaller moved his family here, as of this month, 30 years ago. They're the second owner of the only two-story house on the block that was built in 1949-50.
It's also a neighborhood that has almost 80-year-old pipes that provide thousands of residents with drinking water.
"They've outlived their useful life," Alex Chetley, San Joaquin County Department of Public Works deputy director, said. "And so we experience problems with aging water infrastructure, like leaks and service disruptions. So replacing these with new pipes will obviously improve water efficiency and be a benefit to the public."
The San Joaquin County Department of Public Works is in the midst of a multi-year, multi-phase water main replacement project, replacing nearly 20 miles of underground water lines, moving them from backyards to the streets.
"It's an older part of Stockton, as evidenced by the age of the water lines, right?" Chetley said. "So we actually operate and maintain nearly 32 water districts in the county. This is one of our bigger ones. It's got nearly 1,800 connections and many thousands of residences to serve. So this is our bigger and most important districts. They're all important, but this one, because of the age and the problems that we have with the existing water system, it's time."
Chetley said they've invested nearly $6 million in this project from outside funding, not costing the district anything and that they were able to get an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant for $2 million to fund one of the phases and part of that included a $500,000 cost share required by the district that they were able to get waived.
Chetley said that's "essentially a $500,000 savings to the district. And that's the kind of stuff that I'm really proud of that our staff's able to do."
"Since we've already had to replace the water line in back, which the cutoff was in our neighbor's backyard, it would be wonderful to have the water connections here in front," Ruhstaller said.
Paul Canepa is the San Joaquin County District 2 supervisor and said they've heard the contractors have been doing "an amazing job," including putting fire hydrants in and being respectful of one resident not wanting one in her rose bush.
"It's those little things in life that make it better. We're spending millions and millions of dollars in infrastructure, and people usually take that for granted because when you turn the water on or flush the toilet, not everyone is mindful of where that water comes from and since the city and county has so much overlap in my district, it's important that we provide infrastructure," Canepa said.
Canepa also recognized the importance of the project with regard to the age of the pipes.
"It's really important because when they're 80 years old, things start growing in them and you run the risk of having bacteria in the lines," Canepa said. "So new lines, and eventually we'll have meters because a lot of these areas don't have meters, so they do billing on the water cycles once a year for the water."
Cheatley told CBS Sacramento the $2 million would pay for a future phase of this project and that they already have plans to do construction on the pipes this year.
"Well, I'm not looking forward to the construction, but once it's all done, it will make it much easier if we have any water problems," Ruhstaller said.
Chetley also assured residents that the water is safe to drink and that it meets all the requirements of the state.
The Lincoln Village $2 million request is one of ten projects the county is asking funding for, including building a new air traffic control tower at the Stockton Metropolitan Airport:
$2 million to replace the Corral Hollow Road Bridge $2.4 million for the Victor Storm Drain Retention Pond$548,066 for a mid-size ADA prisoner transport vehicle for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office$2 million for the Colonial Heights Maintenance District Water Reconstruction$2.5 million for Boggs Tract Storm Drainage improvements$2 million for the Acampo Innovation Drainage project Phase B$1.3 million for a Tiny Home Village for individuals receiving behavioral health services on the SJ BeWell campus$1.3 million for Safety-Net Clinical equipment modernization for SJ HealthCanepa said they send "a lot of money" to the federal government, so he wants to see some money come back to their community.
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