The City of Wheatland began work on installation of advanced metering infrastructure during a groundbreaking ceremony with Yuba Water Agency this week.
The $1.36 million project includes the installation of approximately 1,200 water meters and will serve approximately 3,800 people. Half of the funding for this project is from the California Department of Water Resources’ Proposition 1 Integrated Regional Water Management Program and the other half from Yuba Water. In 2020, Yuba Water approved a $700,000 grant to help Wheatland secure the additional state funding.
“The advanced metering equipment we’re installing will directly reduce our labor costs,” said James Goodwin, city manager for the City of Wheatland. “No longer will we have staff going out to manually read meters, and we also won’t have to wait for a month until the next reading to identify a potential leak, saving a lot of water.”
Additional project improvements include upgrading Wheatland’s central groundwater well control system, adding booster pumps to maintain adequate water pressure throughout the system and rehabilitation of a deteriorating 100-year-old elevated water storage tower that will be removed from service, but maintained as a historic landmark.