The City of San Juan Bautista got a $1 million funding grant for its ongoing water and wastewater projects as part of the 2022 congressional appropriations package. A total of $5.9 million in funds was authorized for eight community projects in California’s 20th District, represented by Congressman Jimmy Panetta.
The money will go toward the costs of connecting the city to the Hollister Wastewater Treatment Plant and the West Hills Water Treatment Plant, the culmination of a years-long struggle to solve the problems of San Juan’s nitrate-heavy well water and antiquated sewage treatment plant.
“This is our down payment for our project,” City Manager Don Reynolds said. “And Panetta was the first one to step up and help us. We were told that funding might be available and I said, ‘We are interested, sign me up!’ His dedicated staff walked me through the process and their enthusiasm for the project brought it forward.”
Reynolds submitted the application last March and discovered in the summer that the request had become part of the bill and was going to be voted on by Congress.
“Then the federal government never adopted a budget,” Reynolds said. “And the staff I had been working with went away. I had been so optimistic and was left wondering what happened.”
With no budget, Congress has been authorizing spending through a series of continuing resolutions for the last six months.
On March 9, in a largely bipartisan vote, the House authorized a $1.5 trillion bill to continue funding the federal government, which included the appropriation for Panetta’s district. The Senate passed the measure in a 68-31 vote on March 10 and it now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
In his press release, Panetta said “The federal government is playing its part when it comes to providing funding for much-needed infrastructure projects on the Central Coast. The funding for the projects will help bolster our water resources, revitalize our infrastructure, create jobs and strengthen our local economies and communities.”
The funds are the first received by the city in its quest for a total of $6 million in grants to offset the project’s $18 million cost.
“Being the first grant application that has honored us, it sets the table,” Reynolds said. “It provides leadership and validity to our project. I can now talk to the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture and say ‘Fund us, you guys!’ In the meantime, we are knocking on every door that we can find to get as much funding as we can so we do not have to further increase water or sewage rates.”
Reynolds said he has also been working with Assemblymember Robert Rivas and State Senator Anna Caballero on a possible $6 million grant from the state.
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