Pipeline OK’d

After a three-year delay, residents of Pioneertown northwest of Yucca Valley soon will see improvements to their water, thanks to Monday’s decision by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to use $520,000 worth a state bond revenue to fund construction a 16,000 feet of pipeline, three wells, and a reservoir.

By the end of next month, construction bids will have been received, public hearings will have been held and assessments will have been made, according to county officials.

The project began in 1980 when property owners in the area made a request. But it was stopped soon afterword, due to an inability by the state Department of water resources to sell safe drinking water bonds, said Vernon Knourek, the county assistant administrative officer for special projects.

Earlier this year, Knourek said, the project was reinstated when the money market improved and bond sales, at a reasonable price, again were possible by the water resources department.

Local residents will be assessed between $600 and $1789, depending upon their proximity to the improvements, over a 34 year period to pay off the bonds, said John Egan/ Egan and Associates consulting engineers in San Bernardino

“This is a much-needed project,” said 1st District Supervisor John Joyner, who represents Pioneertown and the entire Morongo Basin. “I think the time is ripe to sell the bonds” and make the improvements.