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Page 4 of 6 <br /> Cost to Retrofit Existing Dairies That Do Not Have Tier 1 Or Tier 2 Lagoons <br /> great, the cost for installing monitoring wells increases and other groundwater quality influences <br /> can possibly be mixed in the samples taken, obscuring the conclusions that can be drawn. <br /> In Table 1 above the single liner option includes costs for installing lagoons, but does not <br /> include costs for monitoring. These can include the installation of monitoring wells, sampling <br /> and laboratory analysis on an ongoing basis, data assessment and analysis, and technical <br /> reports. These costs are not insignificant and can cost tens of thousands of dollars for well <br /> installation and hundreds to thousands of dollars per year in ongoing costs. <br /> New Location vs. Existing Location <br /> To rebuild a lagoon in the current location, provisions must be made to divert and contain the <br /> daily barn water generation (and any rainfall runoff) temporarily during the construction period. <br /> In many cases this may not be feasible, leading to the only other option, to build in a new <br /> location. <br /> To compact the soil for structural support and installation of the HDPE liner, the side slopes <br /> must typically be 2:1 (horizontal: vertical) or flatter, depending on soil properties. Typical <br /> existing lagoon slopes are 1.5:1 or steeper. Therefore a larger lagoon footprint is likely to be <br /> needed to maintain the storage volume. In addition, the retrofit will need to provide 5 to 6 feet of <br /> additional room around the lagoon perimeter for an anchor trench to hold the liner material. <br /> Many lagoons are positioned near other structures on the dairy and this additional space may <br /> not be available. <br /> Relocating the lagoon to a new area may require county permit changes if the location is <br /> outside of the established footprint of the dairy. Such changes are likely to trigger the need to <br /> comply with the California Environment Quality Act (CEQA), which could require the preparation <br /> of a mitigated negative declaration or an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Other land use <br /> permits may also be triggered. Additional costs to comply with local land use permitting <br /> processes (including CEQA compliance) could possibly ranging between $30,000 to $100,000 <br /> or more. <br /> The estimates in Table 1 indicate approximately how many acres the new lagoon is expected to <br /> occupy. In some cases, locating the new lagoon near the existing lagoon is infeasible and <br /> additional costs may be incurred to route the wastewater to a more distant location. In some <br /> cases, significant infrastructure, such as a pump station, may be required. <br /> Highest Anticipated Groundwater <br /> In shallow groundwater areas, this can be a significant issue complicating lagoon design. In <br /> other areas where the groundwater has deepened, but historically has been within 5 feet of the <br /> invert, it can present a physical or regulatory risk. <br /> In order to quantify the highest anticipated groundwater to plan lagoon construction, areas with <br /> shallow groundwater require study on factors influencing the groundwater level, including <br /> influences from irrigations, ditches, or rainfall. This could require a complete year of study, <br /> periodically recording depth to groundwater in the intended site area, followed by a report from a <br /> geologist documenting the findings and recommendations. Conclusions may dictate reducing <br /> lagoon depth, building an above ground lagoon, and/or artificially controlling the water table with <br /> a tile drainage system. <br />