Pajaro County Sanitation District Grant Support

Pajaro is a rural community whose workforce is essential in providing agricultural resources to the local and state economies. Severe rainstorms in winter of 2023 led to flooding along the Pajaro River, causing major infrastructure damage to the community and led to FEMA declaring the disaster a federal emergency (FEMA-4683-DR-CA).

In response to the natural disaster, Wallace Group and the County of Monterey identified several high priority capital improvement projects. Wallace Group was hired by the County to research grant opportunities for the Pajaro County Sanitation District. Based on Pajaro’s water and wastewater infrastructure needs, the District qualified for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program. Wallace Group successfully provided grant writing assistance, and the County was awarded a $4.07 million grant for upgrades to the District’s aging lift station, including a new generator, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, and wet well repairs, along with the replacement of sewer mains and laterals.

According to the USDA, this grant award was the Rural Development’s Creating Opportunities through Rural Engagement (CORE) program’s largest investment in California to date. It is also the second largest water disaster investment in California. All repairs are set to be completed by 2028.