Placer County Water Agency maps out $295 million projects to upgrade plans, pipes
The Placer County Water Agency has mapped out $295 million in projects that will upgrade infrastructure, such as rebuilding plants and rehabbing buries pipes, from the foothills to the freeway.
Colfax Water Treatment Plant
The Colfax Water Treatment Plant, which opened in 1958, is getting a $36 million upgrade. The funding for the remodel comes from a $10 million zero-interest loan and $2.5 million in principal forgiveness from the State Water Resources Control Board, according to the PCWA website.
The project will be creating new capacity for the total volume of water the treatment plant can process, move or treat within 24 hours. The Colfax Water Treatment Plant currently serves 1.24 million gallons of water per day. With the upgrade, it will serve 2 million gallons of water per day with an opportunity to expand up to 3 million gallons.
This project will help foothill communities in Colfax, Shady Glen, Heather Glen and Weimar.
The project began in 2025, and is expected to finish by mid 2027.
Ophir Water Treatment Plan
Following the upgrades to the Colfax center, the Ophir Water Treatment Plant will begin construction in 2026.
The project has been developed for decades. In 1990, PWCA and the City of Lincoln started to invest $185 toward the construction. The project is estimated to cost more than $100 million in addition to prior investments, according to PCWA. Forty million dollars will come from Lincoln, a similar amount from PCWA and the rest will be funded through PCWA’s debt issuance.
“The Ophir Project will be engineered to process 10 million gallons of water yearly — enough to serve 10,000 families — to meet the growing needs for treated water on Placer County’s western side, including the City of Lincoln. And, this project is designed to scale up over time, ultimately serving as much as six times this amount as our communities continue to grow,” the PCWA website said.
The project is anticipated to be completed by 2030.
Newcastle improvements
In Newcastle, PCWA and South Placer Municipal Utility District are working together to replace water and sewer pipelines, improve fire protection and restore the roadway surface along Old State Highway and Buena Vista Avenue.
The project cost is $2.4 million. The project was funded through the Budget Act of 2021 through an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board.
Key improvements include replacement of 1,654 feet of 8-inch water mains and 22 water service connections and 1,700 feet of 6-inch sewer mains and 17 sewer lower laterals. There will be 5 new fire hydrants installed, and 33,871 square feet of roadway will be restored .
The project began in November 2025 and is expected to be completed by September 2026.
Interstate 80 pipelines
In a newsletter by PCWA, the association said 50 pipelines under Interstate 80 between Roseville and Alta Sierra are at risk of failure. The first phase of rehabilitating three of the critical crossings will begin this year to strengthen them and prevent disruptions.
The rehabilitation of the three water crossings will occur on I-80 at Channel Hill Road and Lincoln Way, the Clipper Gap overpass and between Lake Arthur and Applegate roads, east of Lake Theodore
Construction will occur during winter through spring of 2026.
The General Manager’s Report newsletter didn’t state a cost for this project.
Foothill Water Treatmeant Plant
The newsletter also mentioned that the Foothill Water Treatment Plant will get fixes for piping and major mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as pumps and storage tanks related to chemical feed systems.
The project began in October 2025 and is expected to be completed by July.
