A project by Laura Melahn, Candidate for Menlo Park District 4 City Council
Water
Funded FY27–31

Emergency Water Storage and Supply

Project CPW003 · Public Works

Cost & funding
Five-year planned cost
$37,497,000
Where the money comes from
  • Enterprise Funds$37,497,000
Specifically
  • Water Capital Improvements Fund$37,497,000

    Water rate revenue that pays for water utility capital projects. Cannot fund non-water work.

    What is this fund?

Source: FY 2026–27 CIP, Fund 600 appropriation.

Funding pathway
Enterprise rate (water)Planned study

Water Enterprise Fund. Three-year water rate study planned for FY 2026-29 period. Five-year cumulative enterprise operating surplus approximately $24M. Conventional path: rate-funded pay-go combined with water revenue bonds for the FY 2029 major-build year ($26.1M).

What is the Water Enterprise Fund?
Category
Capital Improvement Plan
Department
Public Works
Spent FY 2023–25
$1,059,538
Estimated lifetime cost
$37,500,000
Budget labels for this project

Sources: City of Menlo Park OpenGov CIP detail, project code CPW003; resident-facing name shown here is “Emergency Water Storage and Supply”. Budget worksheet labeled “Emergency Water Storage”.

$37.5M
Funding gap
Estimated lifetime cost $37,500,000
Estimated lifetime cost
$37,500,000
Secured (awarded, received, allocated)
Amount not disclosed
Committed, not yet executed
$0
Pending application
$0
Anticipated (not yet applied for)
Amount not disclosed
Funding gap (not yet covered)
$37,500,000
Show source

The lifetime cost estimate is $37,500,000, from 5-year CIP plan total (sum of FY27-FY31 expense) — full lifetime cost NOT confirmed (May 30, 2026). Source: https://www.menlopark.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works/Capital-improvement-projects/Emergency-water-storagesupply. The funding gap is the estimated lifetime cost minus all funding that has not been lost, added up from the funding sources listed below. Year-by-year figures come from the City's adopted five-year capital plan.

Who is paying

Funding sources

Each source carries its own status and citation. Expand a row to see the conditions, dates, and source document. “Ongoing” sources are recurring formula funds; sources still being pursued show no dollar amount.

Water Enterprise Fund (rate revenue)Allocated
City of Menlo Park (Fund 600) (city) · construction

Conditions: Water capital revenue from Menlo Park Municipal Water rates. New 3-year water rate study planned for FY 2026-29 period.

Primary funding source. Specific revenue stream not detailed on public project page; refer to Water System Master Plan and annual water capital budget.

State Water Resources Control Board approvalAnticipated
State of California (state) · operations

Conditions: Standby well operating approval — not direct funding but enables operation. Limited number of days per year.

Regulatory approval rather than grant funding.

Awarded January 1, 2023
Source document
Spending

Spending by year

Past years are recorded actuals from the City's general ledger. FY 2026 is the adopted current-year budget. FY 2027 through FY 2031 is what the five-year Capital Improvement Plan proposes to spend.

FY 24$942,770
FY 25$116,768
FY 27$3,000,000
FY 28$6,227,000
FY 29$26,070,000
FY 30$2,200,000
Spent Current year (adopted) Planned
Where the money went, line by line
YearFundCategoryAmount
FY 23Enterprise FundsServices$115,759
FY 23Enterprise FundsSalaries and Wages$17,983
FY 23Enterprise FundsFringe Benefits$7,720
FY 23Enterprise FundsProject Control-$141,462
FY 24Enterprise FundsServices$917,737
FY 24Enterprise FundsSalaries and Wages$14,794
FY 24Enterprise FundsFringe Benefits$7,526
FY 24Enterprise FundsOperating Expenses$2,714
FY 25Enterprise FundsServices$112,878
FY 25Enterprise FundsSalaries and Wages$2,979
FY 25Enterprise FundsFringe Benefits$911
Show source

Past years are summed from gl_transactions for this project. FY 2026 is the adopted current-year budget for the project. FY 2027 through FY 2031 is what the City's adopted five-year CIP proposes to spend, taken from cip_projects.

How decisions were made

Council actions

No Council actions are linked to CPW003 yet. As decisions tied to this project are added to the database, they will appear here.

Not yet in the budget

Pending Council actions

One item for this project has been flagged but is not in the current budget. These are commitments the City knows it will need to address — tracked here so they're visible alongside what's being voted on now.

medium

Water rate study output — rate increases to fund Emergency Water Storage and recurring water capital

Amount:
Amount not yet quantified
Expected action:
Rate study completion expected during FY 2028-29
Status:
pending
Consequence of inaction

Without rate action, the FY 2029 major build cannot proceed on schedule. Deferring it risks emergency water resilience and pushes cost higher through escalation.

Source: Staff Report #26-048-CC and Public Budget Workshop FY 2026-27 transcript references; project_funding_sources for CPW003