Sacramento, CA – Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire has been working with the City of Clearlake, Lake County Supervisors Sabatier and Simon and local water districts to secure state funding that will once and for all establish an intertie between a few water districts near the City of Clearlake.

After the Cache Fire tore through Clearlake in late summer of 2021, city and county officials met with Senator McGuire to highlight the need for the Lake County Intertie Project that will build resiliency in the system by upgrading the infrastructure and providing the capacity to share emergency water supply to three neighboring water districts.

The three-way intertie project involves the Lower Lake County Waterworks District, the Highlands Mutual Water Company, and the Konocti County Water District. The $4.3 million will tie each of these districts together which will help create long planned regional resiliency during wildfires and droughts

“Lake County has experienced some of the worst wildfire disasters in our state over the past seven years, and upgrading and building resiliency within local water systems is an absolute must,” Senator Mike McGuire said. “With climate change making the western United States hotter and drier, this is the type of coordination we need to keep our communities safe. We’re grateful to the team from the Department of Water Resources and Lake County leaders working with us to get these critical projects done.

Senator McGuire worked closely with Supervisor Sabatier and Supervisor Simon on this critical project.

“After the Cache Fire, a temporary fix was required to allow still standing mobile homes to have access to water. This funding allows for permanent and more appropriate infrastructure for water access for not only those homes who survived the fire, but also to allow the rebuild efforts to continue in the areas that did burn,” Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said.  “Senator McGuire’s support for the Cache Fire clean up and rebuild was immediate. We are grateful for his support and for the state stepping in to help fund this important project.”

“Providing resiliency to our water systems in Lake County is incredibly important, especially as we’re still in a drought, and are preparing for another wildfire season,” Supervisor Moke Simon said. “Thanks to Senator McGuire and the state for standing strong with Lake County.”

The Cache Creek Mobile Home community is being supplied water by Konocti County Water District through a temporary intertie. The project will replace existing leaky pipelines and expand the distribution system to consolidate the Cache Creek Mobile Home Estates and Creekside Mobile Home Park to help these communities thrive during this and future droughts. The project also includes construction of interties between the Konocti County Water District, Lower Lake County Water District, and Highlands Mutual Water Company. This will allow water transfers between the three water systems resulting in guaranteed water during wildfires and drought.

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